Legal experts are beginning to think Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon is getting closer and closer to being removed from her current overseeing of the sprawling stolen Mar-a-Lago document case against ex-President Donald Trump.
Trump is currently at the center of a federal criminal investigation and indictment after he allegedly stole and mishandled classified US government documents and materials upon his departure from the presidency — many of which are said to have the highest classification markings in the nation — and then proceeded to not only lie to investigators about his possession of the materials but actively conspired with his co-defendants in this case to destroy evidence from his Florida resort where he now lives.
Since being appointed to oversee this case, Judge Aileen Cannon has been at the center of many questions and suspicions regarding her ethics and loyalties, as she’s seemed to make several decisions that skirt the law and side with the man who got her on the bench in the first place.
Just yesterday, we reported that Cannon has sparked panic among legal experts and those who have followed this case closely, when she issued an acceptance of two briefings, seeking to dismiss the documents case against Donald Trump, rife with “worrisome” wording.
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Now, legal expert David Lat says Cannon may have finally flown a little too close to the sun this time and put her position over this case in real jeopardy, after accepting the two briefings in favor of the former president that should have been thrown out without a second thought.
Speaking with former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara on his “Stay Tuned” podcast, Lat said, “I would kind of put Judge Cannon in the probation category. I don’t think the 11th Circuit would remove her just yet from this case, but I think she’s on thin ice.”
One of the aforementioned briefs was filed by America First, a nonprofit organization run by former Trump aide Stephen Miller. Daily Beast confirms that the Miller-back brief takes a special focus on fighting “anti-white bigotry.” While both briefs focus on dismissing the case against Trump, Meese’s document takes a more legalese approach, writing, “Smith is the classic ’emperor with no clothes.’ He has no more authority to represent the United States in this Court than Tom Brady, Lionel Messi, or Kanye West.”
Lat did explain that judges are rarely removed from a case unless they “repeatedly mess up.”
However, Cannon has done just that, as noted by Lat, who cited multiple blatant blunders on the Trump-appointed judge’s part, including an order she issued early on in the case, that prohibited prosecutors from further review of the materials seized by FBI officials during their search and seizure warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in 2022.
Cannon was further lambasted and scrutinized when she told prosecutors they had to turn over unredacted materials to the defense team in discovery.
Lat said Cannon’s most recent decision to accept these amicus briefings could be seen as yet another display of inappropriate bias, that could cost her a big blow to her career.
“If she made another error like she did in the pre-indictment phase of this case where she basically was telling the executive, the U.S. attorney’s office, that they couldn’t investigate something, which is really not her province to do, then I think she could get booted,” Lat explained.
Eric Columbus, who litigated during the Jan. 6 committee’s investigation, weighed in with a different opinion on Cannon’s recent actions, stating, “The ‘may be of considerable help’ language comes from the relevant Supreme Court rule regarding amicus briefs (there’s no corresponding rule in district courts) and these are the only two amicus briefs filed so far.”
Featured image via screen capture
