'Unjustifiably delayed': Expert snaps at Judge Aileen Cannon for dragging out Trump case

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'Unjustifiably delayed': Expert snaps at Judge Aileen Cannon for dragging out Trump case
Photos: Creative commons and Jerry Lampen for AFP

Former FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann hit out at the handling of the classified documents case for Donald Trump Thursday, calling it "unjustifiably delayed."

Judge Aileen Cannon's slow-walking of the case — which is scheduled to start in May but has seen several delays — has been a complaint voiced by several legal analysts, who view it as a simple matter with plenty of case law to look to for guidance, former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance argued on MSNBC. She predicted "fireworks" if Cannon, deviates from other similar cases.

And Weissmann agreed.

READ MORE: How Democrats could push back against GOP ‘judge shopping’

"The case that I think is really unjustifiably delayed is this one," Weissmann complained. "This is a case that is really quite simple in terms of its facts, in terms of preparation. Judge Cannon could have held this very routine hearing she held with the government — it could have been held months ago. There's been zero reason put on the record as to why she delayed."

He confessed to being cynical by nature, but he said that he gave her the benefit of the doubt at the start of the trial. Now, his patience has been tested to the extreme.

"I don't see any reason that this is taking as long as it did," Weissmann explained. "This is a very routine process to have these, what are called Section 4 hearings between the government and the judge as to what evidence can be used," he said, referring to a pre-trial hearing to discuss what classified information can be used as evidence which has taken a long time to be heard.

"I've been in those myself. I think this is one where there are a lot of excuses being given to her to continue the delay of the case. As you know, at the beginning of March, she's going to hear the parties on whether she's going to keep the May trial date. I think it's pretty forgone that that date is going to slip."

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Troubled Trump ally gets new job in Jamaica after judge smacks down current role

President Donald Trump has nominated Kari Lake, the senior advisor to the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), to be the next ambassador to Jamaica.

A statement from the White House on Monday said Lake had been nominated "to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Jamaica."

Lake's rapid ascent from broadcast journalist to a top position in the Trump administration has been marked by controversy and legal setbacks.

Lake spent years as an anchor and reporter at a Phoenix television station before abandoning her journalism career to pursue politics, initially running for Arizona governor in 2022 as a Trump-endorsed candidate who echoed his false claims about election integrity.

After her gubernatorial loss, Lake was appointed as senior advisor to the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees U.S. international broadcasting, including Voice of America, a position that typically requires Senate confirmation. However, a federal court recently ruled that Lake's appointment to the USAGM position was improper, finding that her tenure violated federal law regarding the agency's leadership structure and confirmation requirements.

The ruling raised questions about the legality of her role and the Trump administration's personnel decisions, adding to Lake's troubled political trajectory that has included multiple failed election challenges and ongoing legal disputes.

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Disqualified Trump prosecutor hit with new 'professional misconduct' finding: report

A recently-disqualified federal prosecutor previously installed by President Donald Trump was found by the Attorney Grievance Committee to have engaged in "professional misconduct," according to Adam Klasfeld's All Rise News.

The allegations against John Sarcone, who served as a campaign lawyer for Trump before being appointed to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York, come after he was barred from serving in that role after federal courts found he was installed in a way that violated the law.

"The Attorney Grievance Committee of New York’s Appellate Division, Third Department asserted that it 'took appropriate action' on the misconduct," said the report. "'With this action the matter is concluded,' the Committee’s chair Elena Jaffe Tastensen wrote in a single-page letter. 'We regret that we cannot be more specific about the nature of the action taken and in accordance with Judiciary Law §90(10) and Atty. Disc. Rules §1240.18, all papers, records and documents of a disciplinary investigation and proceeding are sealed and deemed private and confidential,' she added."

All Rise News could not confirm either the nature of the misconduct or how, if at all, he was punished for it.

Sarcone, who was put in charge of a politically-motivated Trump administration investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James, previously infuriated federal judges in the area by falsely claiming they had extended his term as acting U.S. attorney had been extended, when they had not.

Additionally, Sarcone got caught up in scandal after he falsely claimed that an unauthorized immigrant, Saul Morales-Garcia, "attempted to murder him outside a hotel in Albany, but surveillance video revealed that the interaction fell short of the then-U.S. Attorney’s allegations ... In filing his police report, Sarcone listed a home address that appeared to be a boarded-up house, leading critics to argue that he falsely claimed residence in the district to keep his job. Sarcone denied the allegations."

RFK Jr. quietly resurrects anti-vaccine push despite White House muzzle: NYT

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has dialed back his public comments around vaccines, but behind-the-scenes, something else is underway, according to a New York Times report published on Monday.

Kennedy had a direct order to curb his critiques of vaccines and his suggestion — despite a lack of scientific evidence — that chronic disease was tied to vaccines. The Trump administration was apparently concerned that the cabinet member's talk around the topic could impact Republicans' chances of maintaining control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.

"But he has not abandoned his quest for evidence that they are unsafe," according to The Times.

"Working behind the scenes, Mr. Kennedy is spearheading an intense push, across health agencies under his purview, for government scientists and federal data contractors to examine his long-held theory that vaccines are helping to fuel an epidemic of chronic disease, according to multiple people familiar with the effort," The Times reported.

Kennedy reportedly still sees this probe as a top priority and calls vaccines a "potential culprit" behind several neurological and autoimmune disorders, in addition to allergies and asthma. Biostatistician and vaccine safety expert Martin Kulldorff, who was a critic of COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates throughout the pandemic, has been tapped to lead the inquiry.

"It resurrects research into a number of ideas Mr. Kennedy has espoused, including whether vaccines are linked to autism and whether thimerosal, a preservative that has largely been removed from vaccines in the United States but remains in some flu shots, is dangerous," according to The Times.

The initiative between scientists at the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in conjunction with several contractors who apparently have access to millions of patient medical records, has not been made public. The Times spoke to six people who were close to the research and asked to speak under the condition of anonymity.

"The work is raising alarms among some vaccine scholars and critics of Mr. Kennedy, who have long accused the secretary of cherry-picking data and misinterpreting studies to claim that vaccines are unsafe and to limit their use," The Times reported. "They fear Mr. Kennedy will use the findings to further erode confidence in vaccines, which the World Health Organization estimates saved 154 million lives over the past half-century."

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