Judge Cannon 'running out the clock' for Trump after denying Jack Smith motion: experts

Numerous legal experts and political commentators are becoming increasingly leery of US District Judge Aileen Cannon — whom former President Donald Trump appointed in 2020 — after her latest ruling denying a motion by Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith.

On Saturday, former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance tweeted Judge Cannon's denial of Smith's motion to compel disclosure of whether the ex-president is planning an advice of counsel defense. That motion would have required Trump to submit for discovery any communications or documents that would otherwise be protected by attorney-client privilege.

However, Cannon argued in her ruling that disclosure of such a defense is so far not warranted before other pre-trial motions have been settled. This includes a motion pertaining to deadlines as part of Section 5 of the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA), in which criminal defendants are required to notify prosecutors and judges of any classified information that may be disclosed as part of a trial. In Novermber, Cannon ruled that no Section 5 CIPA deadlines will be set until after a March 1 scheduling conference. This means that between a postponed CIPA deadline and Cannon's latest denial of advice of counsel disclosure, the scheduled May 20 trial will almost certainly be pushed back weeks or even months.

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"Assuming the facts and circumstances in this case warrant an order compelling disclosure of an advice-of-counsel trial defense, the Court determines that such a request is not amenable to proper consideration at this juncture, prior to at least partial resolution of pre-trial motions, transmission of Defendants to the Special Counsel's exhibit and witness lists and other disclosures as may become necessary," Judge Cannon wrote.

'It's entirely clear [Cannon] has no intention of letting this case go to trial before the election or possibly ever," Vance tweeted.

Alex Aronson — a former staffer for Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) — agreed, tweeting that Cannon appeared to be "running out the clock" for Trump. Attorney Bradley P. Moss quote-tweeted Vance's post, writing "it never ends." SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah went a step further, writing "Judge Aileen Cannon should just sit at the defense table with Trump's lawyers." In his own quote tweet, Condé Nast legal affairs editor Luke Zaleski opined that "We’re living through an endless cycle of republican abuse of power and obstruction of justice that has seen two impeachments and an ongoing insurrection so far."

"There is no end, no bottom, they simply will not comply with the imperatives of government or institutions of justice," he wrote.