After a series of losses before Judge Cannon, Special Counsel Jack Smith has secured a partial victory over former president Donald Trump.
Smith, who is prosecuting Trump over the alleged retention of numerous classified documents at Trump's Mar-a-Lago golf resort in Florida, asked the court to begin the process of discussing jury questionnaires and set a timeline by which he would like to do so.
Trump filed a brief challenging that motion, saying the prosecutor's "concern about 'insufficient time to implement' jury selection measures is entirely illusory and based exclusively on the partisan talismanic significance they have assigned to May 20, 2024." Smith replied in turn, calling out what he called the Trump team's "baseless accusations."
Cannon, who has been accused of favoring Trump in her rulings, has granted Smith a partial victory by adopting a tentative schedule.
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"Judge Cannon gives Jack Smith a partial W on prepping a jury questionnaire - ordering up a joint version by Feb. 28 with clear denoting of areas of disagreement. Smith wanted it by Feb. 2," The Messenger editor Darren Samuelsohn wrote Friday.
"On or before February 28, 2024, the parties shall meaningfully confer and file a joint jury questionnaire for the Court's consideration, clearly denoting any areas of agreement and disagreement," the brief ruling states. "The court reserves ruling on the specific process by which questionnaires will be transmitted/completed."
The court added that its ruling "shall not be construed as modifying the instructions and deadlines" already set by Cannon.
