Ex-prosecutor lauds Jack Smith for demolishing Trump's delay tactics: 'Justice is a full-contact sport'
Former President Donald Trump asked Judge Aileen Cannon to indefinitely delay his Espionage Act trial for hoarding highly classified defense documents at Mar-a-Lago, arguing, among other things, that he needs time to focus on his presidential campaign. But special counsel Jack Smith hit back with a filing reminding the judge that she has an obligation to set a trial date, and tearing apart Trump's excuses piece by piece.
Smith's response was perfect, said former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner on MSNBC's "Deadline: White House" Friday — and exactly how a prosecutor should respond to such a demand from a defendant, and a judge who has shown signs of bias.
"I want you to take me through substance and tone of what the government argues, because it feels like they've laid a bit of a trap for Judge Aileen Cannon," said anchor Nicolle Wallace. "If she goes against the government, they have already described those sort of judgements as frivolous and nowhere in the law."
"So first of all, Nicolle, let me start with the tone because that may be what I enjoyed most," said Kirschner. "I mean, it makes clear that Jack Smith and his team do not mince words, they do not pull punches, and they recognize that done right, justice is a full-contact sport."
Smith and his prosecutors, Kirschner continued, "went 100 miles an hour after each and every assertion that Trump's team had made when they filed their request a few days earlier that Judge Cannon set no trial date and, you know, the first thing that Jack Smith and his team pointed out on page 1, is that that actually violates the law. The Speedy Trial Act, which says a defendant, once charged, the judge that has the responsibility to set a date certain for the trial to begin, and somehow that escaped Team Trump when they filed their, you know, P.R. piece with Judge Cannon mentioning over and over again, you know, I don't know if you realize this, Judge, but, you know, Donald Trump is running for president and that takes up a whole lot of time and energy, and he doesn't think he's going to be able to fit in a federal criminal trial."
"I would urge everybody to re-read these two pleadings," added Kirschner. "Jack Smith's reply is really compelling and foreshadowing of how we can expect Jack Smith's team to perform once this case is in trial."
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