Special Counsel Jack Smith recently tallied a pyrrhic victory in court on Thursday following a judge rejected former President Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss the charges against him, according to CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig via Mediaite.
It has been noted that Trump faces 32 counts of violating the Espionage Act over what Smith says was the former president’s retention of government documents and his attempt to obstruct their retrieval. In addition, the material was found when the FBI executed a search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
A Trump appointee, Judge Aileen Cannon is presiding over the case and has made several rulings that have baffled the legal experts. The consensus is that Cannon is either in over her head or is in the tank for the man who put her on the federal bench – or a combination of the two.
On Thursday, Cannon rejected a motion by Trump’s attorneys to dismiss the case. However, the win was a mixed bag for Smith.
Appearing on CNN’s The Source hours later, Honig offered his analysis.
“Where does this leave the timeline of this case, Elie?” asked guest host Brianna Keilar.
“Well, a mess, in short,” he answered. “No way that this case was gonna get tried before the election. And now, I think we have other pending issues.”
Honig stated that there has been speculation by some legal observers that Smith will appeal to the 11th Circuit to seek Cannon’s removal from the case. That appeals court has twice vacated Trump-friendly rulings Cannon has made in the case. Honig said Thursday’s ruling all but thwarts that possibility:
“I actually think what the judge did today, forecloses that, makes it impossible to do that because the judge said, “Well, we’re gonna decide when the trial happens and maybe it’s something that will go to the jury.”
You really can’t appeal that if you’re Jack Smith. And by the way, Brie, this is why I think Jack Smith is concerned with today’s ruling. Although he won in the sense that the court did not dismiss the charges, if I’m Jack Smith – and I think Smith feels the same way – I’m very worried about this defense going to a jury because it’s confusing, because it’s complicated, because it’s technical. And prosecutors always want to tell a simple, straightforward story. And frankly, defendants want to muck things up.
And as much as I think this defense lacks merit, I do think it could confuse a jury in a way that would worry me as a prosecutor.”
