A recent account claims that a standard hearing in the case where Special Counsel Jack Smith is pursuing classified documents against former President Donald Trump took an unexpected turn on Thursday. The proceedings were abruptly halted as U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon reprimanded David Harbach, representing the Justice Department, for presenting a last-minute legal argument that she considered a misuse of the court’s time.
Harbach’s argument centered on the idea that attorneys Stanley Woodward and John Irving should be restricted from playing a full role in the defense of Trump’s co-defendants, Waltine Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira. This restriction was proposed due to the possibility that some of the lawyers’ current and former clients might be called upon as witnesses against them.
During Trump’s presidency, Nauta served as a personal aide and subsequently joined him at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach estate, following his defeat in the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden. Oliveira, on the other hand, held the role of property manager at Mar-a-Lago when the government conducted a raid on Trump’s Florida residence in the summer of 2022.
Nauta and Oliveira were initially expected to have an opportunity to carefully consider the potential conflicts of interest involving their attorneys. However, the hearing on Thursday spiraled into a heated debate.
Nauta faces six charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice and providing false statements to investigators. According to prosecutors, Nauta played a significant role in the effort to hide classified documents as the investigation into Trump’s possession of these documents intensified. In a similar vein, Oliveira is alleged to have assisted Trump in concealing boxes containing classified documents from investigators at the Palm Beach property.
The Palm Beach post wrote, “Attorneys at the defense table traded glances as the judge became shorter and shorter with Harbach. He insisted that his position was ‘unremarkable’ and supported by other court decisions, though Cannon took a dim view of the three he offered her.”
Cannon did not confirm when the attorneys would reconvene to address the issue, but told attendees to “stay tuned.”
