Tag: Aileen Cannon

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Crime Donald Trump

Jack Smith Has The Perfect Way To ‘Sidestep’ Judge Aileen Cannon If She Rules Against Him

With some legal experts already worried that the appointment of U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon for the federal trial of former president Donald Trump could all but guarantee an acquittal of Trump, it now appears that Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith has thought ahead and has a backup plan.

In a column for The Atlantic, two noted legal experts, Ryan Goodman and Andrew Weissmann explain that Trump’s indictment also suggests he committed crimes in other locations, which gives Smith lots of options.

According to the Justice Department and a taped recording of the former president, Trump took classified records from Mar-a-Lago to Bedminster (New Jersey), where he showed off the contents of such records to others.

The two then elaborate on their thesis:

“The indictment alleges that Trump showed a map to a political ally and also showed a writer and a publisher a secret military plan to attack Iran. These two episodes were arguably the most egregious allegations of criminal wrongdoing mentioned in the indictment; they allege not just the improper retention of our nation’s most highly classified information, but the intentional communication of such information.”

That’s bad news for Trump, they allege, because New Jersey then becomes a viable option for more charges against the former president.

Trump’s Bedminster conduct, as described in the indictment, appears to fit the description of two federal offenses designed to keep America’s national-security secrets safe. One makes it a crime to intentionally communicate national-defense information to people not authorized to receive it, and the other makes it a crime to intentionally disclose classified information to the same.

These are more serious crimes than willful retention of such documents, which is done to prevent possible leakage. Deliberate dissemination is the leakage itself.

So if indeed Cannon short-circuits the case in Florida by refusing admit crucial evidence or by other methods, Smith can easily charge Trump in New Jersey.

The legal uncertainties that surround bringing charges in Florida for dissemination of national-security secrets in Bedminster leaves open the possibility that charges might yet be brought in New Jersey — a backup plan of sorts for Smith.

If Aileen Cannon, the Florida judge assigned to the case, were to seek to pocket-veto the charges before her by, say, scheduling the trial for after the 2024 presidential election, the special counsel would be able to sidestep her tactic by proceeding with charges in New Jersey.

Could it be any clearer that Jack Smith is playing three dimensional chess while Trump’s attorneys and others who might try to get in his way are still busy with checkers?

 

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Donald Trump WTF?!

Trump-Appointed Judge Aileen Cannon Accused Of ‘Egregious’ Mistake That Proves She’s Unfit

You probably recall that when he ran for president in 2016, Donald Trump promised that he would surround himself with “only the best people,” and therefore guarantee that his administration went down in history as one of the best.

But as we’ve learned over the years, Trump is a terrible judge of talent, and most of the people he appointed or nominated to high positions turned out to be complete idiots who weren’t bright enough to pour piss out of a boot with the directions printed on the botton.

One of those nominees, Aileen Cannon, is now judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and is clearly in way over her head.

According to Jose Pagliery of The Daily Beast, a recent mistake by Cannon could have led to an innocent man going to prison for a crime he claims he didn’t commit.

The man, Christopher Wilkins, was tried in Cannon’s court, and when it came time for the judge to give the jury a verdict form, the one she provided only featured one option: Guilty. Not guilty wasn’t listed as an alternative.

Jeffrey Garland, an attorney for Wilkins, notes, “How far does somebody have to go to school to say that a verdict form is supposed to say guilty and not guilty? That would be one of the more egregious versions of jury instruction error… it’s such a rare error.”

Garland is now appealing his client’s conviction, and there’s an excellent chance he’ll win that appeal because Judge Cannon doesn’t know what in the hell she’s doing.

“This is the judge’s deal,” Garland added. “This is nobody else’s deal. I’m gonna tell ya, I’ve done a lot of appeals, and I’ve got a pretty good winning record. This is a great issue.”

University of Georgia law professor Elizabeth Taxel said she was absolutely stunned by Cannon’s blatant mistake:

“I’ve never seen anything like it. I am a law professor, and I found it cumbersome to read and follow. It’s unclear to me why the court didn’t, out of an abundance of caution, include ‘guilty or not guilty.’”

Judge Cannon is now overseeing the trial of failed ex-president Trump on felony counts of mishandling classified documents and obstructing justice by attempting to hide those documents from investigators, including the FBI and Department of Justice.

Attorney Garland made it clear that he has absolutely no faith in Cannon’s ability to serve as a judge:

“That’s her verdict form. There’s no ‘guilty’ and ‘not guilty.’ The traditional format is ‘guilty’ and ‘not guilty,’ as it was on the proposed form the government and I had created. We agreed on that. And she comes up with this. This is her creation. This is her baby. It’s kind of funny. It’s ridiculous.”

Only the best people.

 

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Crime Donald Trump Espionage

Latest Ruling From Judge Aileen Cannon Likely To Get Her Removed From Trump Docs Case

A new ruling from Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida that would allow for secret grand jury testimony to be made public is likely to lead the Justice Department to demand that she be removed from the classified documents case of former president Donald Trump, according to several legal experts.

According to Axios, Cannon was angered when she learned that an “out-of-district” grand jury was still investigating possible illegal actions related to the documents Trump kept in unsecured locations at his Mar-a-Lago club.

The judge overseeing former President Trump’s classified documents case on Monday rebuked federal prosecutors and struck two of their filings.

Florida District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, also demanded an explanation of “the legal propriety of using an out-of-district grand jury proceeding to continue to investigate and/or to seek post-indictment hearings on matters pertinent to the instant indicted matter in this district.”

That move by Cannon, several legal experts predicted, will likely lead to her removal from the case.

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance explained that “Judge Cannon responds to the govt’s request for a hearing on Nauta’s lawyer’s conflicts & discloses the existence of a grand jury investigation in another district while denying gov’t’s motion to seal. The govt can appeal. This may tee up the issue of her fitness on this case.”

MSNBC host and former prosecutor Katie Phang concurred with Vance.

“If the DOJ filed under seal certain documents, and Judge Cannon just disclosed the existence of an otherwise confidential grand jury proceeding, we might be at the motion for recusal stage for the DOJ…”

Former senior DOJ official Harry Litman noted, “I’m betting that Judge Cannon’s account of the out-of-district investigation is not the full story. But hard to see how she can justify not sealing her order referring to another Grand Jury. Could this be a possible vehicle for taking her up and seeking her recusal? Not clear yet.”

And Andrew Weissmann, a former prosecutor who worked for special counsel Robert Mueller, said Cannon was proving her bias and/or her ignorance with her ruling.

“The obstruction crimes that were investigated are charges that could have been brought in FLA or in DC and thus could be investigated in either district. And there was conduct that is alleged to have occurred outside FLA.”

 

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Crime Donald Trump Justice Department

This Legal ‘Red Flag’ May Wind Up Getting Judge Aileen Cannon Removed From The Trump Case

With a trial date set for December, the clock is quite literally ticking on failed one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump, but the judge in the case — Trump appointee Aileen Cannon — hasn’t yet revealed if she will allow the ex-president to delay the beginning of the proceedings, which is his usual way of avoiding actually facing legal consequences for his actions.

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance says Cannon had best not agree to such a move by Trump and his legal team or she’ll likely face removal from the trial.

Writing on her Civil Discourse page on Substack, Vance notes that a speedy trial could be both good and bad for Trump.

It’s a bit of a double-edged sword for Trump. He could agree to the December date, which he won’t do, at least not without the intention of asking for a continuance as that date gets closer. If Trump objects to a December trial and asks for a date after the first of the year, the government will undoubtedly demand a ruling that he cannot use rallies, campaign events, and primary dates as an excuse for further delay. Since it would be entirely reasonable, under the government’s proposed schedule, to try the case in December, if Trump asks for additional leeway and the Court grants it, there is no reason it shouldn’t come with conditions that ensure the people get their right to a speedy trial.

Additionally, prosecutors have already made it clear that the case isn’t complex at all and features only only two defendants and is based on well-established case law. So a delay would clearly be just a stalling tactic on Trump’s behalf.

Unless Trump can identify one, it would be a red flag if the judge gave Trump preferential treatment, in terms of continuing to delay proceedings while campaigning, that other defendants can’t receive.

If Judge Cannon does grant a delay that reaches into 2024, it will soon become clear that she has a vested interested and may be trying to protect the man who appointed her to the bench. And that, Vance concludes, would lead to the judge being booted from the case.

There’s no legitimate reason for an extended delay before trial and certainly no reason to delay it until after the 2024 election, more than a year off. A ruling to that effect from Judge Cannon would likely provoke renewed concern about her ability to handle the case in a fair and unbiased way. Expect Trump to make the motion, but a decision by the judge to move the trial that far off would be unprecedented.