Judge Aileen Cannon is being blamed for the recent implosion of a hearing for Donald Trump's bodyman, Walt Nauta.
Nauta served as the personal aide of Trump's, catering to his needs and demands. That appeared to extend to classified documents, the court filing from special counsel Jack Smith said in the indictment documents. Nauta's hearing ended abruptly when Assistant Special Counsel David Harbach raised issues that weren't in the government's briefs. Nauta's lawyer explained he hadn't been able to discuss the matter with his client, wrote Lawfare's Roger Parloff.
"Visibly and audibly irritated, Cannon curtly adjourned Nauta’s hearing, promising to issue a scheduling order calling for more briefing and another hearing," he wrote.
“I admonish the government for wasting the court’s time,” she said.
The purpose of the hearing was to ensure that Nauta was aware that his lawyer could have conflicts of interest. At issue is that the lawyers also represented other people who could be called as witnesses. The government claimed that unlike in the other case of a Mar-a-Lago maintenance man, there are existing conflicts.
The lack of preparation stopped the proceeding with an annoyed Cannon, explained Parloff.
She said the government’s “last minute introduction of issues” that weren’t briefed. “Regrettably, I will have to postpone this. It may require briefing. I admonish the government for wasting the court’s time. I’m disappointed in that. The court is recessed.”
While the assessment was detailed, former senior counsel to Robert Mueller, Andrew Weissmann, quibbled with Parloff's assessment slightly saying that he puts the hearing failure more on Judge Cannon.
"I have a slightly different take," said Weissmann. "Judge Cannon ignored thinking about the facts and issues before her, and so was surprised when the govt raised matters that frankly would be fairly obvious to a more seasoned jurist."
However, he conceded, "The government papers could have spelled things out more, as well."
