Tensions Flare Between Jack Smith and Aileen Cannon

“Special counsel Jack Smith is palpably frustrated with Judge Aileen Cannon after several confounding rulings — and lengthy bouts of judicial indecision — have threatened to derail his case against Donald Trump for stashing classified secrets at Mar-a-Lago,” Politico reports.

“The long-simmering tension came to a boil this week in a court filing in which Smith’s team sharply questioned the judge’s willingness to entertain a legal theory that Trump has advanced in a bid to dismiss the case. Prosecutors called the theory ‘pure fiction,’ and their submission featured tartly worded threats to appeal any adverse decision. They also demanded that Cannon decide quickly to prevent her from hamstringing the prosecution on the eve of trial.”

“Cannon shot back Thursday, revealing her own frustrations with Smith’s team, saying in a prickly order that the demand for a hurried decision was ‘unprecedented and unjust.’”