Jack Smith fires a shot across Aileen Cannon's bow over 'clear error'

Special counsel Jack Smith is apparently still not happy that Judge Aileen Cannon ruled against his plea for secrecy when it comes to the identities of witnesses in the Mar-a-Lago documents case.

Law and Crime reports that Smith's team delivered a court filing late on Wednesday in which it warned Cannon it would seek an appeal if she did not reverse her earlier order that would mandate the disclosure of witness names in the case.

Smith argued that Cannon's earlier ruling was a "clear error" that risked subjecting witnesses in the case to harassment and intimidation campaigns.

Smith took special exception to Cannon's claims in her earlier ruling that "discovery material subject to a protective order cannot be shielded from public disclosure absent a heightened First Amendment showing of a compelling interest and narrow tailoring," which he called flat-out incorrect and which he said would result in a "manifest injustice" to the witnesses.

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“Those procedural and substantive missteps contributed to the Court’s conclusion that the Government was required, but failed, to satisfy a heightened First Amendment standard to safeguard from public disclosure materials under a protective order,” Smith argued. “Regardless of how the Court arrived here, that conclusion was clear error, and nothing in the defendants’ response demonstrates otherwise.”

Smith concluded his filing by imploring Cannon to approve his "proposed redactions and sealing" — and he warned that he would file an appeal if she did not.