The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s Florida classified documents case told a prosecutor on special counsel Jack Smith’s team Wednesday to “calm down,” according to Politico.
Judge Aileen Cannon reprimanded prosecutor David Harbach after he expressed frustration in response to a question about whether prosecutors maintained evidence of a meeting in August 2022 with defense attorney Stanley Woodward, which is part of his client’s bid to dismiss the indictment based on “selective and vindictive prosecution,” according to Politico. Woodward’s client, Trump aide Walt Nauta, was indicted last year alongside the former president.
“I’m going to have to ask that you calm down,” Cannon told Harbach at one point, according to Politico.
Woodward claimed in court filings that a member of Smith’s team pressured him during the 2022 meeting, suggesting he would not get the federal judgeship he was being considered for if Nauta failed to cooperate.
Spent most of the day at Ft. Pierce federal courthouse to cover two hearings in classified docs case.
Special Counsel team’s frustration with Judge Aileen Cannon is really evident.
And it’s glorious.
David Harbach, one of Smith’s lead prosecutors and usually a cool customer in…
— Julie Kelly
(@julie_kelly2) May 22, 2024
Harbach said Woodward’s argument was “garbage,” according to ABC News.
“Mr. Woodward’s story about what happened at that meeting is a fantasy; it did not happen,” Harbach said, per the outlet. Harbach argued comments Woodward claimed prosecutors made were “out of context,” the outlet reported.
Woodward argued others moved boxes at Mar-a-Lago, yet were not being prosecuted, according to ABC News.
Cannon indefinitely postponed Trump’s Florida trial date in early May, tossing the start date initially scheduled for this month. She wrote that setting a court date at this point would be “imprudent and inconsistent with the Court’s duty to fully and fairly consider the various pending pre-trial motions.”
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