Ex-prosecutor flags 'strangest thing' about Judge Cannon's new orders in Trump docs case

Judge Aileen Cannon's recent orders in Donald Trump's criminal case go against accepted rules on court jurisdiction, a former prosecutor said Sunday.

Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance over the weekend weighed in on Trump's criminal documents case, which is currently in the appeals court after Cannon dismissed it.

But that dismissal hasn't stopped Cannon from issuing orders in the case, including in an effort to block special counsel Jack Smith from releasing his report on an unrelated case against Trump.

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"In its order last week, the Eleventh Circuit invited the government to take an emergency appeal of Judge Cannon’s order denying the government permission to release the report. They’ve done that now, but it’s messy, with Judge Cannon, in the meantime, demanding that DOJ account for a claim by Trump’s former co-defendants that there is some crossover information in Volume One of the report that involves them. DOJ responded Sunday morning and said that’s not the case," Vance wrote. "The strangest thing about this entire proceeding is that Judge Cannon continues to issue orders when there is no case pending in front of her."

Vance then added, "That’s not how a court’s jurisdiction is supposed to work. You don’t have to take my word for it—the PACER docket shows the case as closed."

She continues, saying, "But here we are with new filings, including a sealed entry from the court (which means we don’t have any idea what’s in it) early Sunday evening."

"This could be a blip because the system is undergoing maintenance tonight or it could be a substantive order of some kind," Vance added in her Substack post over the weekend.

Read the full piece right here.