'This is where he is at his weakest': Expert says Trump most at risk in Mar-a-Lago case
Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith met behind closed doors with US District Judge Aileen Cannon earlier this week for three hours to discuss pre-trial motions pertaining to classified information procedures. And while it's still a question whether that trial will happen before the November election, one expert recently said the Mar-a-Lago indictment may be the most airtight of all of former President Donald Trump's criminal cases.
In a Saturday interview with MSNBC host Katie Phang, attorney Mark Zaid — who specializes in national security law — opined that Smith and Cannon likely discussed one particular section of the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) that covers the disclosure of classified material in court. He theorized that while Trump's legal team may insist that certain contents of documents be used in the trial as a means of dragging out the proceedings, Smith would counter that such disclosure is unnecessary given the limited scope of the charges.
"I don't know offhand — and I obviously don't know all the documents at issue — but what relevance do the contents have to whether or not Trump was authorized to possess the records? That will be an essential question," Zaid said.
READ MORE: Experts: Judge Cannon 'running out the clock' for Trump after denying Jack Smith motion
"Of all the prosecutions that exist against the former president right now, frankly, this is the strongest substantively, evidentiary-wise," he added. "This is where he is at his weakest, because the defenses are very very limited."
Judge Cannon — whom Trump appointed in 2020 — has been overseeing proceedings in the Mar-a-Lago case, and has been frequently criticized for her slow approach. Zaid said the more the court gets bogged down in the minutiae of classified information disclosure procedures, the more likely it is that Trump could succeed in pushing the May 20 trial until after the 2024 election.
"The process is going slow. That's not necessarily unusual when you're dealing with lots of classified information, and the government could have prosecuted many more charges. They chose a limited number of documents, presumably ones they feel they could sacrifice if absolutely necessary," Zaid said. "But this means [Cannon] decides the pace. And even this process that is ongoing right now has taken almost two months to get to a hearing. And if it continues at this pace, that means we go beyond the election and as everybody knows who's watching your show, if Trump wins, this case is done."
Smith indicted Trump in June of last year on 37 felony counts of mishandling classified documents, obstruction of justice and making false statements. Trump associates Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira have also been charged.
READ MORE: Conservative legal scholar calls for impeachment of Judge Cannon: 'Member of the Trump defense team'
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