'Calm down': Classified documents hearing sees strained exchange between judge, prosecutor

FORT PIERCE — A discussion in court Wednesday over whether prosecutors tried to bribe and intimidate a defense attorney in Donald Trump's classified documents case momentarily devolved after a disagreement between a prosecutor and judge.

"Mr. Harbach, I'm just going to ask that you calm down," said U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon.

David Harbach, a prosecutor on Special Counsel Jack Smith's team, raised his voice instead. He pushed back against Cannon's characterization of something he'd said moments earlier, standing with his shoulders tense and arms crossed. He unfolded them to pound the podium once with his index fingers.

"That is not what I said," he told the judge a second time.

Harbach remained animated throughout Wednesday's hearing while debating defense attorney Stanley Woodward over whether Cannon should dismiss the charges against the former president's codefendant Walt Nauta. Nauta's motions to dismiss the case are among several unresolved issues that prompted the judge to postpone the trial indefinitely this month.

The motions, which have succeeded in stretching out pretrial proceedings but not in beating the charges, targeted investigators' methods and motivations. Woodward spoke first during Wednesday's hearing and accused prosecutors of threatening to interfere with Woodward's potential judicial nomination if he didn't convince Nauta to cooperate with investigators.

"I was told I shouldn't do anything to mess up my pending recommendation for judgeship," Woodward said.

Woodward was one of three candidates recommended for an open seat on the D.C. Superior Court in 2020.

Harbach called Woodward's story "fantasy" and a "garbage argument." He appeared to grow more agitated Wednesday with each question Cannon asked about the matter, prefacing some of his answers with varying versions of "I already told you." In response to one, he said: "Let me put it this way. That is not the right question."

Exchanges like these, bookended always with polite platitudes between the prosecutor and judge, did not derail the hearing. Cannon appeared unfazed throughout, prepared to interrupt Harbach and Woodward when either began to speak louder and faster about something she hadn't asked to hear.

"Slow down," she told Woodward. To Harbach: "Can you just answer the question, though?"

Trump, currently on trial in New York over alleged hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels, did not attend the five-hour hearing in Fort Pierce. The second half of Wednesday’s hearing proceeded without incident, save for the “keep it down” Cannon directed at a whispering Harbach.

Mar-a-Lago boxes: Trump codefendants want out of classified documents case, say they had 'no clue' what was in boxes

The judge did not immediately rule on the two motions at hand. The first motion argued that Nauta was charged only because of his refusal to cooperate with federal investigators — not because of allegations that he schemed with Trump to conceal boxes of classified documents.

The second motion — co-signed by all three defendants, Trump, Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira — pinpointed language throughout the indictment that the defense attorneys called vague, ambiguous and in violation of the men's rights. Smith called both arguments “meritless,” “flat-out false” and “deeply flawed," reviving language he's used to describe many defense filings.

Trump faces dozens of felony charges, including willful retention of national defense information and conspiring to obstruct justice. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Nauta and De Oliveira have also pleaded not guilty to all charges against them. Smith has accused Nauta and De Oliveira, a Palm Beach Gardens resident who is the property manager at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, of trying to erase security videos and making false statements to prosecutors.

Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Judge Aileen Cannon tells prosecutor to 'calm down' at Trump hearing