Donald Trump just caught the break he needed and he owes it all to Special Counsel Jack Smith's team's sloppy work.
On Tuesday, it was announced that the classified documents case had been postponed, and there was no scheduled trial date.
Talking Points…
- Smith team admits mistake
- Judge Cannon postpones the case
- Analysis
Smith's team made a huge mistake in the handling of the evidence that was seized at Mar-a-Lago during the now infamous FBI raid at Trump's home. A recent filing by prosecutors admitted that they had lied about the preservation of the evidence and that the documents were no longer in the same order as when they were seized.
Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett explained:
"Prosecutors have a duty to preserve evidence, Larry, exactly as it is seized. Jack Smith's special counsel admits now in court documents altering, manipulating evidence against Trump.
"The digital scan of documents doesn't match the physical order in the boxes that were seized."
Jarrett went on to call this "evidence tampering," noting that it could be a significant issue for Smith moving forward. As soon as we saw this report, we stated that we expected Trump's legal team to start filing more motions to challenge the evidence, forcing a delay of the case, which had been scheduled to begin later this month. Well, it did not even have to come to that for the case to be put on hold.
Trump's initial trial date for this case was May 20, which was already in jeopardy because, according to prosecutors in the Bragg case, it would take at least two to three more weeks for that case to wrap up. Regardless, this case was running into issues because of the case before the Supreme Court regarding presidential immunity.
With the mishandling of the evidence by Smith's team, leaving even more issues unresolved, Judge Aileen Cannon, whom Trump appointed to the bench, finally threw up the white flag and ordered this case to be postponed until all the legal issues regarding the classified documents have been put to bed. In her ruling, she stated:
"The Court therefore vacates the current May 20, 2024, trial date (and associated calendar call), to be reset by separate order following resolution of the matters before the Court, consistent with Defendants' right to due process and the public's interest in the fair and efficient administration of justice."
Cannon did set up evidentiary hearings and deadlines for various filings on May 31, June 10, June 17, and June 21. She also scheduled a hearing to begin on June 24 to set disclosure deadlines, a speedy trial report for July 19, which happens to be the final day of the Republican National Convention, so expect that to get pushed, and a status conference for July 22.
With the dates that are already scheduled, it is now all but certain that this case will not see the courtroom for the actual trial before the election takes place. That, after all, was the quest by Trump's defense team from the outset, and it now appears they have achieved that goal. As I have noted before, this was one of two cases that I felt could hurt Trump, along with the January 6 case before Judge Chutkan, which has also been postponed indefinitely pending other Trump appeals and the Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.
Trump has somehow managed to dodge all of these legal problems, at least it appears that way. And if Trump wins the election, the chances of these cases ever coming to trial are very slim. I would suspect that Trump's AG would order all the charges dropped, but that would open up Trump to another impeachment if Democrats take back the House. That is a problem for another day, however, so, for now, Trump has scored a huge win.
