'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."

See the full comments below or at the link here.


Legal analyst tried to give Judge Cannon the benefit of the doubt — now he's done www.youtube.com

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White House holds off wading into health care vote as they 'know it could be ugly'

White House officials are steering themselves clear of commenting on the impending health care vote as they "know it could be ugly".

An insider has suggested Donald Trump and the administration are keeping quiet on the future of health care as both Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune take on the bulk of the ugliness. Speaking to Politico, an unnamed source close to the White House suggested the Trump administration is in no rush to take the heat off of either Johnson or Thune.

They said, "The White House does understand how important this issue is. They want to find some fixes. But they know it could be ugly to get where they need to, and they’re letting [Speaker Mike] Johnson and [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune handle a lot of the ugliness."

But the White House doing nothing to deflect from the growing health care woes is "pretty dumb" according to a Republican health care strategist. Joel White, president of the Council for Affordable Health Coverage, said, "Doing nothing is ceding the issue. And politically, that’s pretty dumb."

"It’s smart for Republicans to say, ‘We care about this too. We think the situation is a mess, and we’re trying to fix it.’ And the message, I think, is a winner when you say, ‘We want to help you, voter, consumer — not big company.’" Despite the lack of action, there is, according to one senior White House official, an "awareness that something has to happen".

Another unnamed source has suggested the disagreements in the House and Senate on health care has almost certainly spread to the White House also.

The insider claimed, "There’s no doubt about it, if there’s disagreement on Capitol Hill, you got to believe there’s disagreement at the White House. You definitely have the hard line approach, I would probably say, coming from the OMB side of things."

"I think they would actually be fine with the ACA subsidies running out, because they’re true believers the program sucks, there’s fraud, there’s this, there’s that. I don’t necessarily think the president’s there. The president is inclined to maybe even give a one-year extension, or better off for everyone, try to pass a health care bill."

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FBI 'in shambles' as insiders say 'nobody will miss' Kash Patel staff if director is fired

FBI insiders have claimed director Kash Patel is overseeing a "shambles" and that "nobody will miss" his staff iif he is fired.

Rumours of Patel's imminent departure from his role at the top of the Federal Bureau of Investigation were reported by Salon, who spoke with FBI sources. The mood in the department is, according to one unnamed source, not positive for Patel. A 30-year veteran of the FBI says morale is at an "all-time low" and suggested the trouble is "at the top" of the FBI.

Deputy Director Dan Bongino has also been in the firing line of FBI insiders, with one claiming his office has been emptied for weeks. Staffers at the office say it has been empty for "close to two weeks" while another said nobody is feeling reminiscent about Bongino's time at the FBI.

An insider said, "Nobody here will miss him. He has no credibility." Others have noted Jimmy Paul, the chief of staff working under Bongino for the last nine months, had already left the agency for a posting at the Baltimore field office. Patel is also facing criticism from one insider who told Salon the FBI is "in shambles" because of how Patel is running things.

The White House has denied any plan to replace Patel as director of the FBI. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told the outlet, "President Trump has full confidence in his entire law enforcement and justice team."

Pressure on Patel comes as a former federal prosecutor says the FBI head is making the same mistakes constantly. Glenn Kirschner said, "It looks like FBI Director Kash Patel is either unwilling or unable to learn from his mistakes because in yet another high-profile shooting, old Kash just got it wrong again."

Patel's announcement of a person of interest in the mass shooting at Brown University on Saturday, which left two students dead and nine more injured, was called "premature" by Kirschner. The former federal prosecutor went on to break down why this was such a problem for Patel.

He said, "Well, first of all, he made clear by inaccurately relaying that they've got the bad guy in custody ... that the FBI screwed up because they got the wrong guy holed up in that motel room. Two, he inaccurately signaled to the people that the coast is clear," he continued, adding, "that was wrong, and that's dangerous."

"Three, he's disclosing facts to the public that the public doesn't need to know. The public has no right to know."

'He made it about himself': Seth Meyers hits out at Trump statement after Rob Reiner death

Talk show host Seth Meyers believes Donald Trump made the death of Rob Reiner "about himself" with his Truth Social statement.

The ex-Saturday Night Live member paid tribute to film director Reiner, who was found dead at his home alongside wife Michele Singer Reiner on Sunday (December 14). Meyers, speaking during a tribute to the When Harry Met Sally director uploaded to the show's YouTube channel, suggested the Trump statement was expected but still horrifying to read.

Trump's Truth Social post about Reiner has been criticised by many, including talk show host Jimmy Kimmel and ex-US attorney Joyce Vance. Trump's first statement regarding Reiner's death reads, "A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS."

"He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!"

Meyers has since commented on the statement, saying the president has managed to make the tragic death of Reiner and Michele all about himself.

The talk show host said, "Rob is no fan of the president, and because of that, the president was no fan of Rob's. This is something everyone knew. But the president still wanted to take the opportunity to - just about 12 hours after Rob and Michele had been murdered in their own home - wanted to take the opportunity to go on social media and post his thoughts about this tragedy."

"I feared this was something he was going to do and I was pretty certain it would kind of cast a shadow on what was already a really dark day but it was even worse than I could have imagined."

"The president made it about himself because he is incapable of making it about anything else. He said the Reiner's were reportedly murdered because of their feelings about him, even though no one had reported that."

Meyers would go on to say Reiner and Michele's death is a tragedy to anyone with an "ounce of humanity", adding "but you do need that one ounce."

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