The DOJ is asking the Court docket of Appeals to file a request for Trump-classified paperwork as quickly as attainable
The Justice Department is likely to appeal Judge Cannon’s entire order. The DOJ limited its appeal request to the question that the DOJ poses the greatest threat to the country. From Reuters:
In the filing before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, the Justice Department said the district court should stop a portion of the lower court’s decision preventing prosecutors from doing so from relying on the classified documents in their criminal investigations into holding government records at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach after the end of his presidency.
And very important:
The government asked the Court of Appeal to rule on the application “As soon as possible.”
Courts of appeal move slowly. The process can take six to nine months with a fairly quick criminal procedure. But courts of appeal can also act very quickly. After all, they control their own schedule. The operative word “practicable” emphasizes the need for speed while at the same time sufficient preparation on both sides.
The court’s response to the schedule request may reveal the court’s inclinations toward the substantive decision below and reveal the direction of its final decision. Judges are people. They’ve heard about the controversial verdict, they know the issue is almost unknown in the appeals process, and most importantly, they know the DOJ believes this is a matter critical to national security. You know what’s coming.
If the 11th Arbitration Panel finds that the case was “probably” wrongly decided and that the DOJ should be allowed to move forward on the matter, the Panel will (in my opinion) be more likely to grant a very expedited and aggressive schedule. Perhaps it could time the matter so that its verdict is within a month, maybe even sooner. But if the court decides that “feasible” means three to four months… that’s probably a bad sign for the DOJ. Many would take this as an indication that the panel believes the verdict is likely legitimate and that it is not that damaging to national security.
The above is speculation, but it is speculation that will be consistent with what most legal circles will also believe.
The speed with which the court issues its schedule may also be instructive. Will the disposition order be issued on Tuesday or in two weeks? It’s hard to say, but most attorneys would find it revealing.
@JasonMiciak believes a day without learning is a day not lived. He is a political writer, columnist, author and lawyer. He is a Canadian-born dual citizen who spent his teens and college days in the Pacific Northwest and has since lived in seven states. Today he enjoys life as a single father to a young girl and writes on the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He loves making his flower pots, cooking and is currently studying philosophy of science, religion and non-mathematical principles behind quantum mechanics and cosmology. Please do not hesitate to contact us for lectures or other concerns.
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