CNN Legal Analyst Explains Why Judge’s Refusal to Toss Trump’s Case Is ‘Kind of a Loss Here – But Not Really’
Former President Donald Trump was actually handed a legal victory when a federal judge refused his request to toss a federal criminal case against him, according to CNN legal analyst Ryan Goodman.
On Thursday, Judge Aileen Cannon – whom Trump appointed to the federal bench in 2020 – rejected his motion to dismiss the criminal charges stemming from his retention of government documents after leaving office. Special Counsel Jack Smith alleges Trump willfully retained classified material after leaving office and obstructed the government’s effort to retrieve it.
Goodman discussed the ruling hours later on CNN’s OutFront.
“We’ve made the point that the headline seemed that it was a loss for Trump,” host Erin Burnett said. “But when you look underneath it, actually there was a pretty significant victory.”
Goodman explained why Trump has reason to celebrate:
So, his claim is that the classified documents are personal – he could somehow magically make these highly classified documents his own. That’s not what the law says. That’s just ludicrous. So, instead of the judge saying, “Ok, of course that’s ludicrous.” She just said, “I’m not deciding that pretrial. I might let that happen during the trial and maybe that’s what I’ll decide in the midst of the trial. Now, I’ll actually say, ‘Oh, those are your personal documents? I issue a judgment for acquittal.'”
And that’s called Rule 29. She could do it in the middle of the trial and then it’s too late. That is not appealable. So, she’s actually given him kind of a loss here – but not really. I think this is not what Jack Smith wanted to hear. If she had ruled now that these could be his personal documents, then Jack Smith can appeal that and have the 11th Circuit reverse her.
Trump has claimed that the Presidential Records Act gave him the right to retain the documents he took with him after leaving office. Legal scholars have panned this claim, which also elicited a rare statement to the contrary from the National Archives. Nevertheless, Cannon has not ruled out Trump being able to use the act as a possible defense at trial, a date for which she has yet to set.
Watch above via CNN.
