U.S. District Court Judge Cannon has expressed her disappointment with the prosecutors in a federal classified documents case, specifically Jack Smith.
She accused Smith of "wasting the court's time" with a sudden request. The hearing was abruptly postponed by Judge Cannon after the prosecutors made an unexpected request.
This request was related to placing partial restrictions on the lawyer representing one of Trump's co-defendants.
The prosecutors, without prior warning, sought to disqualify the lawyer. Judge Cannon expressed her displeasure, stating that she was "disappointed" with the sudden move. She was particularly upset with prosecutor David Harbach for not providing any supporting cases from her district in Florida.
This hearing was one of two scheduled for Trump's co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira. The purpose was to inform them about their attorneys' representation during the grand jury investigation, Yahoo News reported.
Both Trump and Nauta were indicted in June over allegations related to the illegal retention of national security materials. This took place at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort club. Later, with the inclusion of charges against De Oliveira, additional obstruction counts were added in July.
Prosecutors from special counsel Jack Smith's office had expressed concerns. They believed that the attorneys, Stanley Woodward and John Irving, might not represent their clients to the best of their abilities. This was due to potential conflicts of interest with former clients.
The issue became prominent during Nauta's hearing. The prosecutors were unsure about Woodward's approach to cross-examining a key witness, identified as the Mar-a-Lago IT director, Yuscil Taveras.
Taveras, initially represented by Woodward, chose a new lawyer when he became a target for charges. This change led him to alter his sworn testimony.
During the hearing, prosecutors disclosed their intention to call Taveras as a witness. They suggested that Woodward should either be barred from cross-examining Taveras or that they should be allowed to question his credibility during closing arguments.
Woodward, in response, defended his position. He argued that his prior representation of Taveras did not prevent him from challenging his credibility at trial. He also expressed his discomfort with the sudden nature of the request.
Judge Cannon sided with Woodward, especially after Harbach admitted that he lacked supporting cases from the relevant legal circuit.
Earlier in the day, during another hearing, De Oliveira expressed his desire to retain his lawyer, John Irving. Irving had previously represented three witnesses who might testify against De Oliveira.
However, De Oliveira seemed more concerned about understanding the implications of retaining a potentially conflicted lawyer.
He admitted to having better reading than writing skills in English, which has been a topic of discussion for the Trump legal team.
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