'Trump can win by losing': Lawyer warns Jack Smith not to celebrate Cannon ruling

According to a report published by the New York Times last month, when U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon was given Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, many legal experts side-eyed the appointment.

The Times noted that both "legal analysts and Trump critics assailed her for having issued a ruling in an early part of the inquiry that was favorable to him but so legally questionable that an appeals court chided her in overturning it."

Nearly nine months since Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith indicted the MAGA hopeful on 37 felony counts related to his handling of classified documents, obstructing justice and making false statements, the same legal experts still criticize Cannon for the slow pace at which she's moving towards trial.

READ MORE: Judge Cannon denies Trump’s bid to dismiss Mar-a-Lago indictment

The judge agreed to hear Trump's motion to dismiss the case altogether last week, and during the hearing Thursday, she ultimately smacked down the request.

However, Palm Beach County, Florida State Attorney Dave Aronberg explained to MSNBC's Joy Reid why Cannon's decision is only a "temporary victory" for Smith.

“It's very hard, I think at this point, given all of the politics from the [US] Supreme Court, on — not to view Aileen Cannon and also [special counsel Robert] Hur, who clerked, I believe, for [former U.S. Supreme Court] Judge [William] Rehnquist at one point — as auditioning," Reid said.

"They're helping Donald Trump. He doesn't have the most genius lawyers in the world. All they have to do is keep appealing and appealing and filing motions and that's all it apparently takes to have justice delayed, which in a sense, for the people of the United States and voters, is justice denied."

Aronberg replied, "Yeah, Joy. I agree with you and [legal expert] Neal [Katyal], that Trump can win by losing. He can lose all these hearings, and still win because his strategy is to delay things. Trump is nervous about this particular charge because it is the strongest case against Donald Trump. The Espionage Act, obstruction — they've got him dead to rights. His only defense is he somehow declassified the documents in his mind like some Jedi mind trick is preposterous. If he can keep delaying it, he expects to be president again.

READ MORE: Ex-FBI official: Judge Cannon’s 'inexperience with classified information leading to delays'

He continued, "Then he can order his attorney general to drop everything. Then he can appoint Aileen Cannon to the Supreme Court. Although it seems like Jack Smith won today because she didn't boot the entire Espionage Act claim, she postponed her decision. She denied it without prejudice, meaning that Donald Trump can bring it up again in the middle of the trial, and if Judge Cannon agrees, in the middle of the trial, then double jeopardy attaches, and Jack Smith won't be able to appeal it to the 11th circuit court of appeals and then Jack Smith is done on that claim. So, it's a temporary victory."