The denial by Judge Aileen Cannon of a motion by Special Counsel Jack Smith that she order President Trump to disclose a key plank of his defense strategy throws into high relief Mr. Smith’s stalled case in South Florida and his inability — so far — to crack Judge Cannon’s code. 

Mr. Smith wanted the judge, appointed by Mr. Trump in 2020, to order the 45th president to divulge whether he intends to argue that he should not be convicted for efforts to overturn the 2020 election because he relied on the advice of his attorneys. Judge Cannon rebuffed the special counsel, ruling that his request “is not amenable to proper consideration at this juncture.”

Mr. Smith at this juncture is likely increasingly worried about the case’s timeline. While the trial is scheduled to begin on May 20, a de facto delay appears to be taking hold. In Judge Cannon’s order rebuffing Mr. Smith, she expresses the desire to see “at least partial resolution of pretrial motions,” exchange of exhibits and witness lists, and “other disclosures as may be necessary” before compelling Mr. Trump to show his hand.

The special counsel’s challenge with Judge Cannon contrasts with his success at the District of Columbia, where on Monday, Judge Tanya Chutkan, in his January 6 case, ordered Mr. Trump to disclose his advice of counsel plans for that prosecution. That case, though, is scheduled for March 6. It is now suspended, pending appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. 

Judge Cannon has sounded a skeptical note since the case’s infancy, even as she rejected Mr. Smith’s latest request “without prejudice,” meaning that he can raise the issue again at a future juncture. Cases like this one that turn on classified documents, involving the nation’s secrets, often proceed at a crawl. That is due to the Classified Information Procedures Act, which governs how such documents are shared and viewed.

Mr. Smith appears to be making little headway with Judge Cannon. In a previous incarnation of this case, she insisted that an outside expert, called a “special master,” be appointed to chaperone his prosecution. In a hearing in November, Judge Cannon noted the “voluminousness” of the case’s paper trail, an ominous sign for Mr. Smith, who has urged her to stick to a timeline that looks increasingly provisional.

While Judge Cannon denied an official request from Mr. Trump to delay the trial “indefinitely,” she ventured during a hearing this fall that she is “having a hard time seeing how realistically this work can be accomplished in this compressed period of time, given the realities that we’re facing.” A lead prosecutor for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Andrew Weissmann, took to X to declare that she is “in the bag for Trump.” 

The case’s archives look set to expand exponentially. Mr. Smith on Friday filed notice that he intends to call agents from the FBI to interpret data extracted from the cellphones of two of Mr. Trump’s co-defendants, the valet Waltine Nauta and the manager of Mar-a-Lago, Carlos de Oliveira. 

Judge Cannon handed Mr. Trump another victory over the weekend, granting his request to file an “oversized consolidated brief” after having previously chided the special counsel for “unauthorized” filings that exceeded the court’s word limits. She adds, though, that the “Special Counsel is granted corresponding relief for its combined responses.”

Mr. Trump’s request for extra pages suggests that he is preparing for a significant challenge. His lawyers write that he “intends to file at least six motions to compel different types of discovery from the Special Counsel’s Office,” including arguments seeking “an order regarding the scope of the prosecution team and motions for disclosures relating to security clearances.” 

The 45th president also previews filings relating to “damage assessments and impeachment material relating to the conduct of the investigation.” The former category would seem to presage arguments that the materials stashed at Mar-a-Lago did not contain national security information or that keeping them at Palm Beach did not harm America’s interests. Such showings would go a long way toward defanging Mr. Smith’s Espionage Act charges.