Judge Cannon shennanigans and incompetence revealed

A fuller explanation of the latest in the Georgia documents case with the news of a change in testimony from Yuscil Taveras is laid out in this article from Public Notice. I won't excerpt it, because it's packed with information about what's been going on.

Walt Nauta's incompetent or shady (or both) Trump-paid lawyer is supposed to respond to Smith's latest motion for a Garcia hearing (explained in the article) today.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Smith heading off a mistrial in Florida

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

" It tells us Jack Smith is playing hardball"

From Opening Arguments:

Trump's valet and co-defendant in SDFL, filed a motion to continue (that is, delay) the Section 2 CIPA conference scheduled for this Friday, July 14.

[...]

Ordinarily - and I can't stress this enough - these kinds of motions are beyond routine. If opposing counsel can't be at a status conference, you just reschedule the conference out of convenience, because someday YOUR lawyer will be out of town.

AND a Section 2 CIPA conference is largely ministerial - but is also the key first step to moving the case along expeditiously.

So, the basis for Nauta's motion is that his Trump-appointed & paid-for lawyer, Stan Woodward (who also represents a potential witness against both defendants!) isn't available this Friday.

All of that seemed kind of fishy to the DOJ. [...] Also, moving this conference & slowing things down doesn't particularly help Nauta, but it's at the core of Trump's strategy (to the extent that he has one).

[...]

It's still a surprise to see Jack Smith coming out swinging. Less than two hours later, the government filed its opposition to Nauta's motion. It makes two arguments.

First, Nauta has his own local counsel & his Trump-appointed lackey (Woodward) could probably appear via Zoom if necessary. And second, even though Woodward hasn't yet gotten his expedited security clearance from the FBI yet.

[...]

[T]hat's because Woodward himself has refused to fill out the damn form (SF-86) despite "having been put in contact with the Litigation Security Group... three-and-a-half weeks ago."

[...]

We still think it's likely the motion will be granted & the conference moved - and not just because the motion is pending before Judge Aileen Cannon, FSW.

[...]

Win or lose, this is an interesting marker for the DOJ to lay down. It tells us Jack Smith is playing hardball & it (maybe) suggests he thinks there's something fishy going on with Trump paying for his co-defendant's lead counsel - who really ought to have flipped by now.

[...]

P.S. In Nauta's motion to continue, Woodward says he opposed the CIPA conference.

  Opening Arguments Twitter

To wit:

In response, the DOJ has politely suggested that maybe his brief just omitted the word "not." That would be unbearably stupid & is therefore probably true.

To wit:

The government also suggests that Woodward... forgot... to mention the scheduling conflict during their repeated phone calls.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Finally

Sasha - that sounds Russian.

Walt Nauta, the longtime aide to former President Donald Trump who was charged alongside him in the special counsel's classified documents case, has pleaded not guilty to all charges at his arraignment in Miami.

Nauta [...] is facing six counts as part of the criminal case involving Trump's handling of classified documents. The charges include conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements.

[...]

A magistrate judge in Miami warned Nauta's attorney last week that today's arraignment should be considered the "drop dead" deadline.

  ABC

Finally. And I have no doubt he could have retained this particular attorney weeks ago.  

Nauta, 40, was then set to be arraigned last week, but an attorney for Nauta, Stan Woodward, told the judge that Nauta still had not retained local counsel, and was also unable to get to Florida due to travel issues.

Nauta wanted to "express his sincerest condolences to the court," Woodward told the judge.

Condolences? For the court's inability to get him arraigned, maybe.

"He takes very seriously the charges," Woodward said.

Obviously he doesn't.

And I'm ready for some new indictments.

"Body man" has taken on a new connotation for me now.

Is "valet" not macho sounding enough?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 07/08/2023: