Jack Smith Close to Pressing 'Nuclear Button' on Aileen Cannon: Analyst

Department of Justice (DOJ) Special Counsel Jack Smith is close to pushing the "nuclear button" in Donald Trump's classified documents case, a legal expert told Newsweek on Wednesday.

Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, has faced scrutiny over her handling of the case in which federal prosecutors charged the former president with 31 counts for allegedly keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and maintains his innocence, accusing the DOJ of targeting him for political purposes. Critics have called for Cannon to be removed from the case.

Smith wrote that Cannon's proposed jury instructions "rest on an unstated and fundamentally flawed legal premise" in a new court filing this week.

The filing was in response to Cannon's instructions suggesting that Trump may have had a legal right under the Presidential Records Act (PRA) to declare presidential records as personal property after leaving office.