Judge Cannon Thwarts Jack Smith’s Attempt to Silence Trump

On Friday, special counsel Jack Smith asked the judge to issue a gag order on Donald Trump in his classified documents case. Taking a page out of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s playbook, Smith thought he could successfully prevent Trump from being able to freely express his opinions about the case.

Unlike Bragg, who has a Biden donor as a judge, Smith had to convince Judge Aileen Cannon, a fair-minded, Trump-nominated judge, to buy into his argument that Trump should be silenced.

Cannon refused, calling Smith’s demand for a gag order “wholly lacking in substance and professional courtesy.”

Upon review of the Motion 581 [581-1], Defendant Trump's procedural opposition 583, and the attached email correspondence between counsel [583-1], the Court finds the Special Counsel's pro forma "conferral" to be wholly lacking in substance and professional courtesy. It should go without saying that meaningful conferral is not a perfunctory exercise. Sufficient time needs to be afforded to permit reasonable evaluation of the requested relief by opposing counsel and to allow for adequate follow-up discussion as necessary about the specific factual and legal basis underlying the motion. This is so even when a party "assume[s]" the opposing party will oppose the proposed motion [583-1], and it applies with additional force when the relief sought - at issue for the first time in this proceeding and raised in a procedurally distinct manner than in cited cases - implicates substantive and/or Constitutional questions. Because the filing of the Special Counsel's Motion did not adhere to these basic requirements, it is due to be denied without prejudice. Any future, non-emergency motion brought in this case - whether on the topic of release conditions or anything else - shall not be filed absent meaningful, timely, and professional conferral.

It gets better. Cannon didn't just refuse to silence Trump the way Judge Juan Merchan has in New York, but she also warned Smith that she’s not going tolerate future ridiculousness from him. 

Any future, non-emergency motion brought in this case - whether on the topic of release conditions or anything else - shall not be filed absent meaningful, timely, and professional conferral. S.D. Fla. L.R. 88.9, 7.1(a)(3); see ECF No. 28 p. 2; EC No. 82. Moreover, all certificates of conference going forward shall (1) appear in a separate section at the end of the motion, not embedded in editorialized footnotes; (2) specify, in objective terms, the exact timing, method, and substance of the conferral conducted; and (3) include, if requested by opposing counsel, no more than 200 words verbatim from the opposing side on the subject of conferral, again in objective terms. 

Cannon added, "Failure to comply with these requirements may result in sanctions."

That’s going to leave a mark.

BREAKING: Judge Cannon, as expected, denies Jack Smith's proposed gag order, warns sanctions could be next if he keeps violating the rules. pic.twitter.com/T2Yxb1zvm6

— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) May 28, 2024

This is not only hugely devastating for Smith but also for the Democrats who thought that this case was their ticket to putting Trump in prison. I certainly wouldn’t bank on that now. Cannon isn’t stacking the deck against Trump the way Merchan has in New York — and we know how that case is going.