Cannon rejects Trump claims FBI botched Mar-a-Lago search
by Rebecca Beitsch - 06/27/24 1:56 PM ET
Judge Aileen Cannon rejected claims Thursday from former President Trump that law enforcement misled the court in order to search Mar-a-Lago but kept alive other bids by the former president seeking to limit the use of key evidence, scheduling additional hearings in the dragging case.
Cannon rejected Trump’s request for a “Franks hearing” to review whether prosecutors made any false statements or omissions in crafting the warrant, determining Trump had not met the bar for additional examination.
While the ruling from Cannon denies a Trump effort seeking to toss the bulk of the evidence gathered from his home, she said further hearings would be needed to weigh two other arguments from the former president.
That includes a challenge to another provision within the warrant, and a request that she reexamine a decision that lifted attorney-client privilege from a former Trump attorney and allowed prosecutors to access some of his files.
Cannon brushed off concerns about the further hearings from special counsel Jack Smith’s team, writing it would not “devolve into a ‘mini trial.’”
“There is a difference between a resource-wasting and delay-producing “mini-trial,” on the one hand, and an evidentiary hearing geared to adjudicating the contested factual and legal issues on a given pre-trial motion to suppress, on the other,” Cannon wrote.
While the ruling comes swiftly after three days of hearings that ended earlier this week, the additional hearings ordered by Cannon add more time spent on the mounting unresolved issues before her.
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https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4743684-judge-cannon-rejects-trump-claims/
