Norm Eisen (norm.eisen on Threads)
@NormEisen
Lotta news but something MAJOR happened last night
Smith filed motion for Judge Cannon to reconsider order unsealing names & stmts of some witnesses in MAL docs case
This could be start of getting Cannon thrown off case under 11 Cir bias rules (1/x)
Cannon already has two strikes against her from when she oversaw the docs investigation
First the 11th Cir preliminarily reversed a stay she imposed
And then they permanently reversed her outrageous appointment of a special master
This latest order may be strike three ...
Why? 1st of all, reconsideration is an "extraordinary remedy that should be employed sparingly" to "correct CLEAR ERROR and PREVENT MANIFEST INJUSTICE"
So the fact that Smith made this motion shows how wrong Smith thinks Cannon was & how dangerous he thinks her order was 3/x
And what Smith argues is pretty shocking
He shows how Cannon applied the *wrong standard* to make the Gov to unseal discovery materials
She said the Gov failed to meet the very high bar of showing both a "compelling interest" AND "narrow tailoring" 4/x
But that's wrong--that extremely stringent requirement shouldn't be applied to discovery materials attached to a discovery filing
As Smith shows, the press and the public do not have the right, under the 1st Am or common law, to access *discovery materials* 5/x
In fact Smith goes through the cases Cannon herself cited in her own order & explains why they actually do NOT support her position 6/x
Instead the Gov only needs to meet a much easier standard--they just have to show there was "good cause"
And Smith outlines how that test was clearly met--cataloguing the "significant interests in maintaining confidentiality" 7/x
Smith focuses on risks of witness intimidation--which he argues are "far from speculative in this case" & lists people incl judges & Smith's staff who've been threatened
This is key bc it addresses threat of violence that lurks behind each of Trump case, not just the MAL one 8/x