Special Counsel Jack Smith’s latest threat to appeal over a jury instructions order issued by the judge overseeing the Trump classified documents case would almost ensure a trial does not take place before the election, legal experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
In Judge Aileen Cannon’s order requiring the parties to file proposed jury instructions, she included two scenarios that seemed to agree with Trump’s argument that he has discretion under the Presidential Records Act (PRA) to designate documents in his possession as personal, and that those decisions cannot be reviewed. Smith told Judge Aileen Cannon in a filing Wednesday that her order relied on a “fundamentally flawed legal premise,” saying jury instructions based on Trump’s theory would “distort the trial.”
The dispute touches on a central issue of the case, legal experts said, which is why Smith indicated he will appeal if Cannon does not agree with the government’s position.
“The issue over jury instructions is basically the crux of the entire case,” former federal prosecutor Andrew Cherkasky told the DCNF. “Mr. Trump’s authority to convert classified documents to his personal records would create an overwhelming advantage for Mr. Trump and could seriously frustrate the Government’s ability to prove