It has been noted that an attorney who worked in Donald Trump’s White House predicted that Judge Aileen Cannon’s “partiality” would lead to her removal from the former president’s documents case via Mediaite.
It seems that the reason Special Counsel Jack Smith is bringing charges against Trump is because Smith claims the former president purposefully held onto sensitive materials and then tried to prevent them from being released.
The accusations stemmed from a search warrant that the FBI carried out at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in August 2022, during which they discovered boxes of official government documents. Trump asserts that he was entitled to take the information. The National Archives responded with an unusual public statement stating that presidents are required to turn over official records when they leave office.
Cannon, whom Trump appointed to the federal bench in 2020, has issued a series of odd rulings that have prolonged the case. That includes a since-vacated appointment of a special master to review the documents found in Trump’s possession, as well as Cannon’s request for proposed jury instructions from counsel based on interpretations of the Presidential Records Act, which Trump has falsely claimed gave him the right to take official material.
That request for instructions prompted an unusually combative filing from Smith on Wednesday, who insisted that “the [Presidential Records Act] should play no role in jury instructions.”
Cannon has yet to set a trial date at this late stage, perplexing legal experts.
Ty Cobb, who served in Trump’s White House. He offered his view on Wednesday’s OutFront on CNN.
“Why do you think Judge Cannon’s stalling it?” host Erin Burnett asked.
“I recognize that many commentators today have tried to be polite about Judge Cannon’s missteps here and suggesting that they relate somehow to her experience or incompetence,” Cobb responded. “I think the evidence of her bias is pretty palpable at this stage of the game.”
