Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon has officially crossed the line after she delivered an indefinite delay in scandal-plagued former President Donald Trump’s extensive stolen classified documents case — and there’s basically absolutely nothing Special Counsel Jack Smith can even do about it — leading one Washington Post columnist to finally sound the alarm with a stark warning about what this all could mean for this country’s national security.
District Court Judge Aileen Cannon recently canceled the classified documents trial that was previously scheduled to begin on May 20th. Cannon cited too many remaining, unresolved legal issues as her reasoning for not only canning the trial’s start date but failing to set a new one. However, Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin said the quiet part loud when she noted in her new piece that this disturbing decision only serves as proof that this case is far too complicated for Cannon, leaving some of the nation’s most notable legal experts to agree that Aileen’s oversight of this entire case has been riddled with endless errors and mistakes.
Rubin spoke with former U.S. attorney Barbara McQuade on the matter, who told the WaPo columnist, “I like to presume that judges act in good faith, even when I disagree with their decisions, but Judge Cannon’s order postponing the trial indefinitely is truly baffling. It is not only the defense but also the public that has a right to a speedy trial. Delay causes memories to fade, evidence to go stale, and jury appreciation for the seriousness of the case to diminish.”
“In a case that alleges illegal retention of some of our nation’s most sensitive secrets,” McQuade added, “it feels like judicial malpractice to slow-walk this case the way Judge Cannon has.”
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Rubin went on to note that Cannon’s blatantly intentional foot-dragging in this monumental case is putting the United States’ national security directly into the line of fire, as US allies are almost undeniably growing more and more hesitant to share top-secret information as they simply cannot trust that it will remain in safe hands.
“What can Smith do?” Rubin writes. “The special counsel might make a motion to recuse. Cannon would deny it, but he could then take it up with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. Ordinarily, delay is not grounds to boot a judge … Smith nevertheless could argue that under the totality of the circumstances and given the 11th Circuit’s prior chastising of Cannon, as well as the national security concerns, the appeals court should reassign the case. Still, Smith likely would lose.”
Smith does still have the option to go to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals seeking a writ of mandamus, a move that would essentially force Cannon into ruling on the pending issues in this case that she cited as the reasoning for her trial cancellation. However, Smith would be under the burden of proof to show that the US government has exhausted all other alternatives as well as prove that his office has the legal right to pursue such a drastic measure.
“Many legal experts still argue that Smith might as well try one of these moves: What has he got to lose?” Rubin wrote. “At the very least, the special counsel can highlight the danger of giving Trump another chance to stock the courts with Aileen Cannons.”
You can read Rubin’s full column with the Washington Post here.
Featured image via screen capture
