Legal AF by MeidasTouch - CORRUPT Judge Cannon FATAL Move has MAJOR Consequences

Episode Date: February 10, 2024

The Mar a Lago criminal case against Trump has presiding Judge Cannon has applied the WRONG LEGAL STANDARD and is about to reveal the secret identity of key government witnesses on the public docket putting their safety and testimony at risk, inching herself closer to being reverse again and removed from the case under the 11th Circuit version of the “Lemon law”. Michael Popok of Legal AF explains why Judge Cannon just hit a “pause” button on unsealing confidential records pending full briefing, as her 11th Circuit bosses keep a watchful eye. Try Mosh today and use LEGALAF to save 20% plus free shipping at https://moshlife.com/LEGALAF Visit https://meidastouch.com for more! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown Lights On with Jessica Denson: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/lights-on-with-jessica-denson On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Wings would be nice, though. It's Michael Popak, Legal AF, Judge Cannon is pumping the brakes on a terrible decision of hers that didn't apply the right standard and almost released to the public at least 12 secret confidential witness statements that would have put lives at jeopardy and could have polluted the jury pool. That's what's happening down at Mar-a-Lago in the espionage obstruction of justice case as we continue to watch that case closely. And when, not if, special counsel Jack Smith is going to pull the trigger on taking an appeal directly to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals of another judge cannon screw up.

These are some of the most important and devastating rulings of hers about something that looks as innocent as whether documents that Jack Smith and his team gave to the other side gave to the drum side and filed with the court, but sealed them, meaning the public's prying eyes wouldn't see them for now and redacted them, meaning black lines replaced on them so that the public couldn't see them for now, understanding that the defense can see the document, just not the public or the media on the docket for very good reason. There's a long body of law, including at the 11th Circuit, that says that there's certain type of material for which the government can provide the other side, but not make public. And the First Amendment and the right of the media and the right of the public to know

about issues in a case does not extend as far as them getting their hands early on a case before the witness is testified to witness statements, grand jury material and other things that could jeopardize the life, literally the life and security of a witness and tamper or pollute the jury. This should have been very run of the mill when Jack Smith filed a motion to seal and to redact so that when he filed his opposition to certain of Donald Trump's discovery motions in order to correct the record so that Donald Trump didn't commit fraud on the court. In order to do that, he had a site to certain documents that he knew existed and had been produced.

Those documents, particularly, and I'll go over them in detail in this hot take, deal a lot with witness statements and emails and other communications that should not at the moment until there is a trial, end up with the media or with others on a public docket. That's what the case law says. And so he filed them under a request

that they be sealed and or redacted, meaning the black lines that I talked about. The judge issued an order just a couple of days ago in which he granted in part and denied in part Jack Smith's request, meaning she agreed that some of what he asked for could be redacted and sealed, but the rest she found because she applied an incorrect standard,

which means clearly erroneous and subject to reversal on appeal. She applied the wrong standard and therefore found that the government had not met that standard and was just about to send out to the world, witness transcripts of secret grand jury and other type of witness statements taken under oath by the government that the Trump side had, but they, but that there's no right to, to the public having right now before the trial even happens, jeopardizing the investigation,

the prosecution and putting lives at risk. Let me break it down for you. I'm going to do it by reading from Jack Smith's Motion for Reconsideration. This is what you do when you're a careful practitioner. When you believe the trial judge has made a major error that is reversible, which we call reversible error, you first generally give them the right to try to correct the error with a motion for reconsideration. You also do that when you're running out of time.

When the judge has ordered that something be unsealed that should remain sealed and to protect people, you gotta hurry. You either file the motion for reconsideration and see if the judge will grant it and set a briefing schedule and keep the documents sealed until she rules. Sealed meaning in an envelope, literally in the clerk's office and that the press and the other people in the public can't get their hands on. Donald

Trump wants to try his case, including top secret sensitive information in the media before trial, because that's the circus that he's trying to create and the chaos that he's trying to create. You can either do that, file the motion of reconsideration. And if it's denied and or you're out of time, you go right to the appellate court, the 11th Circuit and ask them for a stay of the order

because the judge has made a major error of law. Here, they felt, I could tell, Jack Smith felt like they had to, and that the 11th circuit would be looking for them to go first, to judge cannon, to try to fix it in the first instance at the trial court level. And so they've given her the opportunity to do that. And I'll tell you what she's done now in response,

but at least set up the motion first, the motion for reconsideration. What they said about first, they told the court, you applied the wrong standard. That the standard that you applied is that you said that the government had to show a compelling governmental interest and that we did not meet our compelling governmental interest burden, but that's not the standard. And there's a line of cases, including at the 11th circuit, that should have told her that. So she, it's not the standard. And there's a line of cases, including at the 11th circuit that should have told her that. So it's not the heavy burden of compelling governmental interest.

Whether there is a good faith reason, which is a lower standard, good cause is all that the government has to prove, which is a lower standard to prove that something there's good cause for it, right? And that it would be manifestly unjust not to grant it. That is a much different standard than you gotta come in here and you gotta meet the heavy burden of a compelling interest.

Judge got it wrong. When it deals with documents and discovery attached to motions, it is the prevent, manifest, injustice and good cause standard, not the heavy burden of compelling interest of the government. And they made out their standard of good cause and to prevent, manifest, injustice by telling the judge the history here that it's not speculative about witnesses being put in jeopardy if their names were known. In fact, they reminded the

judge that the judge herself, talk about inconsistent positions, the judge, the judge herself told the parties that they should, they should make sure that people are anonymous, witnesses are anonymous, especially when they're filed to protect them. And then they went on to say, this is a clear error, which is a signal to a trial judge, we are taking you up to the 11th circuit and beyond if you get this wrong.

For those that are just joining this maelstrom that is Judge Cannon trying to rule her way through a very complicated Mar-a-Lago case and watching it in real time. This is not the first time that Judge Cannon has made a clear error of law and been reversed on this very case a year and a half ago after she interfered with the investigation, the criminal investigation, before there was even an indictment because she thought that a former president has greater rights about a search warrant being executed at his house than he does. The 11th Circuit said, what are you doing? You're a district court judge. Get out of there. Get out

of. Don't interfere with the Department of Justice and the FBI and their investigation. If there's an indictment problem, we'll deal with it when the indictment is made, if the defendant wants to make a motion to dismiss or quash the indictment. made, if the defendant wants to make a motion to dismiss or quash the indictment. But you can't interfere with the search warrant issues and the investigation issues. And so she got reprimanded not once, but twice by the 11th Circuit, including by the chief judge,

William Pryor. And so she doesn't have a lot of credibility as far as I'm concerned. And I'm sure what the 11th Circuit has in terms of her rulemaking that her judgment seems to be impaired. Most judges that I've dealt with, federal judges, have good instincts, have good first judgment, have good judgment, but it's right there in the name of their job, judge. I think Cannon in this area seems to be lost at sea without a compass or a sextant, and she's

just navigating it dark and completely upside down. And so this is their opportunity to tell her, you just committed clear error. As I count down to new fatherhood, the more I find myself wanting to be that much more intentional about the way I live, eat and take care of my body. Mosh is a company founded by Maria Shriver and her son, Patrick Schwarzenegger, with a simple mission to create a conversation about brain health through food, education, and research. Maria's father suffered from Alzheimer's,

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correct standard of good cause would have resulted in a different outcome because we've met our burden on page 12. Um, in opposing the unsealing request by the defendants, the government objected to the unsealing or public dissemination of any information or its exhibits that a reveals the identity of any potential government witness reveals personal identifying information for any potential government witness constitute Jenks act material for any potential government witness in doing so, the government emphasized three main concerns, all initially rejected by the judge, the need to protect witnesses from harassment and intimidation, the need to avoid infecting the testimony of other witnesses

or unnecessarily influencing the jury pool and the need to protect personal privacy. And then they went on when the when they when the judge said, well, I still don't think that meets your burden. They say in the brief starting on page 13 of their motion for reconsideration, ie you got it wrong, judge cannon and rethink this. These risks are far from speculative in this case as early as August, 2022 magistrate judge, Reinhardt, the magistrate judge or reports to the district judge, in this case, judge Cannon noted the dangerous atmosphere for witnesses in this case when deciding to remain under seal the bulk of the Mar-a-Lago search warrant,

affidavit finding that after the public release of an unredacted copy of the search warrant inventory, FBI agents involved in this investigation were threatened and harassed. Given the public notoriety and controversy about this search, Judge Reinhart ruled it is likely that even witnesses who were not expressly named in the affidavit would be quickly and broadly identified over social media and other communication channels which could lead to them being harassed and intimidated. Magistrate Judge Reinhardt himself has been subjected to numerous threats as a direct result of his involvement in this case. The special counsel went on to tell Judge Cannon, as has Judge Cannon. So these are the reasons

that she should reconsider. And then I'll tell you what happened next. The judge just entered an order in which she is going to not unseal all of this critical confidential material that put lives at risk and in impair the criminal justice system related to the case until there's full briefing. And so now she's entered a paperless order, which she loves to do, which is three or four lines, which is an appealable order that says that she wants to hear from Donald Trump on a briefing schedule that she's going to set. In the meantime, she's going to keep everything sealed and everything redacted and have a full hearing, maybe on the papers, maybe with an oral argument about her decision to, whether she's going to reconsider and reverse her decision.

If she doesn't reverse her decision, if she says, I am going, I think I was right, even under the new standard that you're telling me that I need to apply, this is the moment where Jack Smith needs to take the appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. He's been waiting patiently for a major material, reversible error decision by Judge Kennan to get her maybe off the case

but certainly to get this issue resolved. When I read for you the materials even those that don't practice law for a living let alone be a judge will understand I believe why things have to be sealed and redacted and not released to the public. On page 17 and 18, they go over the various exhibits that they want fully sealed. For instance, government's exhibits, A, C, and D to one of their exhibits is the FBI 302 reports of interviews of potential government witnesses. The government's inclusion of and reference these exhibits was necessary only to correct the false narrative. The defendants included in their motion to compel, but did not present a factual dispute requiring the court's resolution.

Exhibit 51 is Jenks material for a potential government witness. 59 is a department of energy memo discussed at some length in defendants motion with redactions. 61, exhibit 61 is another 302 witness report. 67 and 68 transcript excerpts of interviews of potential government witnesses. 69 is a four page excerpt of a transcript of grand jury testimony, which is supposed to always remain under seal. And then there's another group of things. I mean, there's more than 12 different government witnesses that could be disclosed by Judge Cannon's improvident decision making here if she doesn't reconsider her decision.

Now, what's the takeaway from her granting, well, I don't want to say she granted the motion for reconsideration. She wants now fuller briefing, more fulsome briefing on the motion for reconsideration. She wants Donald Trump to be heard from, and then she's going to issue a ruling. But I'm warning you now, our audience are preparing you, I should say preparing, preparing the audience for what happens next. She gets this wrong and she enters a renewed order that compels the government to reveal grand jury testimony which is by law and constitution has to be secret, witnesses that could be

jeopardized and attacked and undermined and the justice system undermined in this case. She does all of that with a renewed motion saying, I've read everything, but I think I was right even under the other standard. He is going to take an emergency application, Jack Smith's office, directly to the 11th circuit. We'll see what judge prior does next. And there is a body of law in the 11th circuit we've talked about on legal AF that stands for the proposition that there's a three strike rule when it comes to judges, three mistakes in a case. This is like when you buy a car and like first the carburetor goes and then there's an oil leak

and then the steering or the clutch fail and you can exercise your rights under the lemon law. Similar thing in the world of judges. You can find, as the Pelicorps could find that their district court colleague is a lemon on the case and has made a series of errors that questions her judgment and take the case away from her and send it to another judge and direct the chief judge, a judge, um, ungaro that in Miami to assign somebody else to the case.

And I would think it could be the chief judge of the Southern district of Florida that would be assigned. But that's what happens next. It's just, he's been waiting patiently in special counsel just for this particular moment. And now he's got Judge Cannon right where he wants her. We're going to follow what happens with the filing by Donald Trump and whatever he's going to say about the need for the public to know about witnesses. And the fact that the,

especially since Donald Trump's been gagged in a number of cases, I want to see them try to argue that they don't need protection. The court doesn't need protection. Grand jurors don't need protection, despite the body of law that says they all do, and that they all should be put on the public docket. One last point, everything I'm talking about on this hot take Donald Trump has in an unredacted unsealed format.

So he has it for his defense. We're just talking about what's gonna end up on the public docket in the hands of the media and discussed on YouTube and everywhere else before the trial, during the trial, after the trial, different story. That's why things get unredacted and unsealed during the course.

Things that are secretive now and need protection maybe later have to be reevaluated in order to achieve the goal of having full and complete information in the public domain, but only at the right moment in time. We're not at the right moment in time. We're at the exact wrong moment in time to subject potential witnesses to the violence of Donald Trump and his followers.

We'll follow it on Legal AF, on the Midas Touch Network on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on their two million strong YouTube channel and then on hot takes just like this one. If you like my hot takes and my analysis and keeping you up to date, give me a thumbs up, leave a comment, it helps with the ratings,

keeps me on the air, so to speak. So until my next hot take and until my next Legal AF, this is Michael Popak reporting.