Judge Cannon's Friday 'mini-trial' might hand Jack Smith the ammo to get her booted

A hearing scheduled in the courtroom of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon to consider disqualifying special counsel Jack Smith from prosecuting Donald Trump could backfire and lead to her being booted from overseeing the delayed obstruction of justice case brought by the DOJ.

According to a report from the Daily Beast's Jose Pagliery, Cannon has set aside all day Friday to hear from the former president's lawyers as well as outside groups to make the case that the appointment of Smith as special counsel was illegal and the case involving stolen documents at Mar-a-Lago should be dismissed.

Noting her handling of the case has led legal observers to point out she has been needlessly dragging out the case too long, Pagliery wrote, "Fast-forward to now, and Smith will be fighting to keep the case alive. If Cannon rules against him, legal scholars say he might have the ammunition he needs to finally request the judge’s recusal from the case."

"A very different trial of sorts will be underway this Friday at a tiny federal courthouse in the sunny beach city of Fort Pierce—one that will awkwardly put the Department of Justice on the defensive, with government lawyers asserting their most fundamental right to even try this historic case," Pagliery adds. "Starting promptly at 9:30 a.m., she’ll hear from lawyers on both sides, review evidence in court, and even entertain novel arguments from outside parties who want to weigh in. And if that weren’t enough, Cannon earlier this month indicated that she’s willing to review 'supplemental briefs' afterward—opening the possibility that this could take weeks."

RELATED: Judge Cannon is waiting for a Trump 'Hail Mary pass' so she can spike Mar-a-Lago case

Former federal prosecutor Dennis Aftergut, who has been following the Cannon shenanigans, was blunt in his assessment of Cannon's performance and said that "Judge Cannon is a disgrace to the concept of impartiality and integrity on the federal bench. This case should already have been tried to a verdict."

With Trump's lawyers submitting a brief back in February that asserted, "The Appointments Clause does not permit the attorney general to appoint, without Senate confirmation, a private citizen and like-minded political ally to wield the prosecutorial power of the United States. As such, Jack Smith lacks the authority to prosecute this action,” one former federal prosecutor called the claim nonsense.

“It’s a trivial question that ought not to have any serious consideration at all. We’ve had numerous cases that have gone forward before, and it’s not a serious argument that’s being made,” Donald Ayers told the Beast. “The case has been unnecessarily delayed and it should be much farther than it is. Indeed, it probably should have gone to trial.”

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