Trump and prosecutors in the classified documents case have been told to draft jury instructions that could result in ensuring acquittal
The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s prosecution on charges of retaining classified documents appears to be entertaining his most brazen defenses that could ultimately result in ensuring the acquittal of the former president.
The issue revolves around an order from the US district judge Aileen Cannon on Monday asking Trump and prosecutors in the office of the special counsel Jack Smith to draft jury instructions for two scenarios that gave extraordinary credit to Trump’s defense theories.
The two jury instruction scenarios, as conceived by Cannon, were so beneficial to Trump and so potentially incorrect on the law of the Espionage Act that it would bring into serious doubt whether it made sense for prosecutors to take the case to trial.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s prosecution on charges of retaining classified documents appears to be entertaining his most brazen defenses that could ultimately result in ensuring the acquittal of the former president.
The two jury instruction scenarios, as conceived by Cannon, were so beneficial to Trump and so potentially incorrect on the law of the Espionage Act that it would bring into serious doubt whether it made sense for prosecutors to take the case to trial.
The authorization issue is key to the case because Trump was indicted for unlawfully retaining national security materials under the Espionage Act.
Prosecutors could find a way to work with the first scenario, in large part because showing that the classified documents seized at Mar-a-Lago were not personal records would not be difficult.
Ironically, the curious order from Cannon asking both parties to draft jury instructions appears to have come about because she felt inclined to deny Trump’s motions to dismiss the indictment under the Presidential Records Act and wanted the case to proceed to trial.
It was precisely around that discussion that Cannon asked Trump’s lawyers what the instructions would be for the jury to decide what “unauthorized possession” entailed, taking into consideration the Presidential Records Act.
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