Judge Aileen Cannon struck FBI agents’ motion to testify about Trump’s classified docs case. Why her Oct 1 order helps Trump again.
Table of Contents
Judge Cannon Just Did It Again: Blocks FBI Agents From Telling Grand Jury The Truth About Mar-a-Lago
Right on cue, just after Special Counsel Jack Smith gave a master class to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Donald Trump’s criminality, Judge Aileen Cannon stepped in to protect him again.
On October 1st, in a one-line paperless order, Cannon struck a motion filed by current and former FBI agents who want to testify – unconstrained, unedited, and truthful – to a grand jury investigating Donald Trump.
Her reason? “Lack of conferral.”
What Happened
On September 24th, FBI agents who worked the Mar-a-Lago classified documents investigation filed a Motion to Intervene and Seek Clarification in Fort Pierce, Florida. The case is now called USA vs. Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira – it used to be called USA vs. Trump.
The agents were subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury about what they call the “grand conspiracy” investigation – the DOJ probe into whether Barack Obama, John Brennan, and James Comey conspired against Trump. But the grand jury also wants to hear about Mar-a-Lago.
The problem: Judge Cannon entered a gag order in February 2025 that bars Jack Smith and anyone affiliated with him – which includes these FBI agents – from disseminating information revealed in Volume 2 of Jack Smith’s report. She sealed that report in a tomb.
The agents told the court in paragraph 5, page 3:
“Without clarification [the agents] will be forced to testify unsure of whether the order allows them to answer questions with information contained in volume two of Jack Smith’s report.”
They said they face an impossible choice: risk contempt of Cannon’s order, or invoke the Fifth Amendment and not give full testimony.
They asked for something simple and reasonable. On page 13, paragraph 25:
“If allowed by the court to testify unconstrained by the order, clients will readily provide to the grand jury a detailed account of the investigation, its reasoning, decision-making, and other non-public information spanning from the time the classified documents matter was first referred to the FBI up through and including the execution of the warrant.”
They want to tell the grand jury, in their own words, how Trump unlawfully retained hundreds of highly classified documents in his bathroom, ballroom, and shower at Mar-a-Lago, and how his team tried to hide and delete evidence when the FBI found surveillance footage.
What Judge Cannon Did
Instead of clarifying, Cannon struck the motion.
Her docket entry: “Paperless order striking for lack of conferral the motion to intervene and seek clarification”
Translation: She is telling FBI agents who want to tell the truth that they first have to go ask permission from Walt Nauta’s lawyers and Carlos De Oliveira’s lawyers.
Why is that outrageous?
- Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira can’t be re-indicted. Their indictments were dismissed with prejudice. The appeal is over. It doesn’t matter what the FBI says about Mar-a-Lago, they are not in legal jeopardy.
- Walt Nauta still works for Donald Trump in the White House and reportedly just received a tens of thousands of dollars bonus from Trump along with Natalie Harp.
- Walt Nauta’s lawyer is Stan Woodward – who is now the Number 2 official in Trump’s Department of Justice.
So Cannon is giving veto power over FBI truthful testimony to Trump’s own employee and to Trump’s own DOJ. It makes no legal sense.
This Is Her Pattern
This is not the first time.
- In 2022, Cannon tried to block the FBI from using the classified documents seized at Mar-a-Lago. The 11th Circuit reversed her twice and said she lacked authority.
- In July 2024, she dismissed the entire Mar-a-Lago indictment by ruling Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed as a “private citizen.”
- She sealed Volume 2 of Jack Smith’s report, so the American people can never read what really happened at Mar-a-Lago.
And now, right after a bad week for Trump – where Judge Williams in Miami was upheld by the 11th Circuit to investigate bad faith litigation by Trump lawyers, and 10 judges in the D.C. Circuit signaled they may allow Judge Boasberg to pursue criminal investigation of the Trump administration – Cannon issues this order.
The timing is not a coincidence. She is a public relations maven for MAGA.
The Routh Sentencing Distraction
Cannon’s defenders point to her sentencing of Ryan Routh, the man who attempted to assassinate Trump on September 15, 2024, at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. On February 4, 2026, she sentenced Routh to life in prison plus 7 years consecutive for the firearm charge, calling his plot “deliberate and evil.”
But sentencing one would-be assassin to life does not make you an impartial judge when you keep protecting Donald Trump from accountability.
What Happens Next
These FBI agents will now have to go to the 11th Circuit – again – to get a ruling that allows them to testify without limitation. Just like before, they will likely win.
As Jack Smith said in his Senate testimony:
“I remain confident that the rule of law will endure because so many continue to uphold it faithfully each day. While fear may be contagious, courage is as well.”
The rule of law is being tested in Fort Pierce, Florida. And Judge Cannon is failing that test again.
FAQ :
Q: What did Judge Cannon do on Oct 1?
She struck a motion from FBI agents asking to clarify if they can testify fully to a grand jury about Mar-a-Lago without violating her gag order on Jack Smith’s report.
Q: Why can’t FBI agents testify freely?
Because of Cannon’s February 2025 order barring dissemination of info from Jack Smith’s Volume 2 report. They fear contempt if they answer grand jury questions.
Q: Who are Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira?
Former co-defendants of Trump in the classified docs case – Nauta was Trump’s valet/butler, De Oliveira was Mar-a-Lago IT manager. Their cases were dismissed with prejudice.