Judge Cannon gives Trump permission to skip classified document hearing for New York trial

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has given former President Donald Trump permission to skip a hearing in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case in Florida, because of the ongoing criminal hush money trial in Manhattan.

According to Law & Crime, "Early Friday afternoon, the 45th president’s attorneys filed an unopposed motion seeking leave from the court to skip a May 22 hearing that is focused on two motions to dismiss the indictment filed by co-defendant Waltine 'Walt' Nauta, 41, Trump’s personal valet. The defense motion notes that Trump had 'previously scheduled travel outside of' southern Florida because he is 'on trial in Manhattan Supreme Court' over hush-money-related allegations."

Special counsel Jack Smith did not object to the request, and Cannon swiftly granted it.

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"Trump’s lead attorney in the hush-money case, Todd Blanche, is also one of his attorneys in the Mar-a-Lago case," noted the report. "There are, however, at least three attorneys who have addressed the court on the former president’s behalf during the Big Apple prosecution. And, Trump is represented by five different attorneys in southern Florida, where Christopher Kise is listed as the ex-president’s lead lawyer."

"The hearing that Trump will miss is about Nauta’s motion to dismiss the indictment over claims of vindictive prosecution, which was filed in late April," the report continued. "The hearing will also deal with Nauta’s late February motion to dismiss over insufficient pleading, which claims the indictment used a 'shotgun pleading' to link 'varying allegations' against Trump to Nauta even though they have 'nothing to do with' the latter man." Prosecutors working for special counsel have rejected all these claims.

Cannon, herself a Trump appointee, has come under harsh criticism by legal observers by how she has handled the case. She blocked FBI access to classified documents seized at Mar-a-Lago even before the indictment came down, tried to order Smith to give Trump witness identities that he had already warned could put them at risk of intimidation, and recently put the trial on hold indefinitely, citing an overwhelming backlog of motions to sort through that she herself helped create.