On Wednesday, Judge Aileen Cannon held a hearing regarding Walt Nauta’s motion to dismiss Jack Smith’s classified documents case on grounds of selective and vindictive prosecution.
Walt Nauta, a former White House employee and Navy veteran who served as Trump’s valet and personal staffer at Mar-a-Lago, was indicted alongside Trump last year.
Nauta’s lawyer detailed prosecutorial abuses by Jack Smith, including references to uncharged offense allegations, improper use of statements obtained through attorney-client privilege violations, and improper reference to a “court-authorized search warrant.”
According to ABC News, the hearing “got heated at times” as Jack Smith’s prosecutor, David Harbach, became frustrated with Nauta’s lawyer, Stanley Woodward.
David Harbach, one of Jack Smith’s top prosecutors, threw temper tantrums at the federal courthouse in Ft. Pierce, Florida, as the classified documents case crumbles.
“Mr. Woodward’s story about what happened at that [August] meeting is a fantasy; it did not happen,” Harbach said to Judge Cannon on Wednesday, expressing his frustration.
Investigative journalist Julie Kelly, who attended both hearings in Judge Cannon’s court on Wednesday, reported that Harbach became so frustrated at one point that he pounded his fists on the podium.
Judge Cannon scolded Harbach for his outbursts and instructed him to “calm down.”
A few reporters in the media room even gasped, according to Julie Kelly.
According to Julie Kelly, some reporters in the media room even gasped at Harbach’s behavior.
David Harbach, one of Smith’s lead prosecutors and usually a cool customer in court, had a series of mini temper tantrums this morning. At times pounding his fist on the podium and clapping his hands in anger to emphasize a point, Harbach was totally unprofessional, demeaning, and petulant.
Cannon asked Harbach to “calm down” during one diatribe about accusations DOJ threatened one of the defense attorneys to get his client to flip on Donald Trump.
He kept trying to argue with her–Cannon also remains measured most of the time and is no fan of antics–and when she asked him a question about an issue, he shot back “that’s not the right question.”
A few reporters in the media room even gasped.
Spent most of the day at Ft. Pierce federal courthouse to cover two hearings in classified docs case.
— Julie Kelly 🇺🇸 (@julie_kelly2) May 22, 2024
Special Counsel team’s frustration with Judge Aileen Cannon is really evident.
And it’s glorious.
David Harbach, one of Smith’s lead prosecutors and usually a cool customer in…
More from Newsweek:
Shouting ensued during a Wednesday hearing before U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump.
According to reports from inside the courtroom in southern Florida, the disorder took place during a hearing for one of Trump’s two co-defendants, Walt Nauta, who argued before the court that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had vindictively charged him and that the indictment should be dismissed.
The former president is facing 40 felony counts, accused by federal prosecutors of mishandling and withholding classified documents that he took from the White House upon leaving office. Nauta, Trump’s longtime aide, is accused of moving boxes of sensitive materials to prevent federal agents from retrieving them.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Nauta’s attorney, Stanley Woodward, got into a heated exchange with prosecutors over a meeting that took place in August 2022. Woodward alleged that he was pressured in the meeting by a member of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team to encourage Nauta to cooperate with the DOJ investigation. According to Woodward’s account, Smith’s prosecutor, Jay Bratt, insinuated that his appointment to the D.C. Superior Court could be negatively affected if Nauta did not cooperate.
The allegation was met with an adamant rejection from prosecutor David Harbach, who, according to CNN’s report, rose from the prosecution side and called Woodward’s story a “garbage argument.”
“Mr. Woodward’s story of what happened at that meeting is a fantasy,” Harbach reportedly shouted while banging his hand on the table in front of him. “It did not happen.”
While Harbach continued to rebuke Woodward’s claims, Cannon pushed back on why the DOJ had not gathered any evidence regarding the 2022 conversation. The judge also told Harbach to “just calm down” while he answered her questions, according to ABC News senior reporter Katherine Faulders.
Earlier this month, Judge Cannon scheduled hearings on key motions after indefinitely postponing Jack Smith’s classified documents trial against Trump, following the special counsel’s admission of evidence tampering.
The next hearing on discovery status reports is set for next week.
