Background: This image, contained in the indictment against former President Donald Trump, and partially redacted by source, shows boxes of records being stored on the stage in the White and Gold Ballroom at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. (Justice Department via AP). Inset L-R: Special Counsel Jack Smith (via AP/Scott Applewhite), U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon (U.S. Senate via AP), Donald Trump (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell).
The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s indictment for allegedly illegally retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida has denied a request from the former president’s attorneys to file a consolidated brief laying out all of his pretrial motions in one time-saving maneuver and instead, has ordered him to file them one-by-one and with rules on page limits for each.
The motion from Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche was filed late Tuesday and noted that the former president wanted to file “at least 10 pretrial motions” not to exceed 200 pages on a variety of matters including special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment; the subject of presidential immunity — notably, a fight he has lost in every venue he has launched it so far; accusations of “selective” and “vindictive prosecution”; his grievances over the “vagueness” of the statutes he has been charged under and what Blanche called “an illegal raid at Mar-a-Lago, and improper violations of President Trump’s attorney-client privilege.” His co-defendants in the Florida case, Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, joined together to respond to special counsel Jack Smith’s Feb. 12 motion as well, in which the special prosecutor argued Trump was attempting to improperly smuggle “misleading” and irrelevant defense theories in at the last minute in order to delay. Trump’s legal team said it was Smith’s “misrepresentations” that caused delays.
Blanche asked the Trump-appointed judge, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, if they could file the consolidated brief via email by Feb. 22, enter a redacted version of it to the public docket by that evening, and then file a hard copy under seal in court the next day.
But in a paperless order on the federal docket on Tuesday, Cannon denied the request and provided other instructions.
Pretrial motions must be filed on an “individual basis” so they can be adjudicated clearly, the order said. All pretrial motions must state “with particularity” the filer’s stance on whether they need a hearing on a motion and if so, they must provide specifics about the scope, format and sequencing of the hearing. If Trump wanted to have a hearing for each of his pretrial motions, under this guidance, then that could mean at least 10 separate hearings.
Cannon also upped the page limit for individual pretrial motions and replies to 25 double-spaced pages, excluding attachments.
“With respect to Defendant Trump’s request to publicly file redacted versions of certain pre-trial motions on a temporary basis, the Court denies that request without prejudice and orders as follows. On or before February 22, 2024, Defendant Trump shall submit via email to the Special Counsel and the Court final, unredacted copies of all pre-trial motions, with attachments. The parties then shall promptly confer on all sealing/redaction issues presented in the motions. Following such conferral, any party wishing to seal/redact anything in the pre-trial motions shall file a consolidated motion for leave on or before February 27, 2024, specifying the particular legal and factual bases for shielding pre-trial filings,,” she wrote.
Any “consolidated oppositions” would be due by Feb. 29.
As for any pretrial motions that would attach, or even reference, discovery materials, Cannon stayed Friday, Feb. 22 deadline until the parties can resolve ongoing disputes over redactions and seals generated in the case.
“Pre-trial motions that do not implicate potential sealing/redaction concerns shall be filed publicly on February 22, 2024. To the extent Defendants Nauta and De Oliveira anticipate discussing or attaching discovery materials in additional pretrial motions, the procedures set forth in this Order shall apply,” Cannon wrote.
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