Aileen Cannon's 'judicial malpractice' puts national security at risk: columnist

Judge Aileen Cannon has indefinitely delayed Donald Trump's trial in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, but there's not much that special counsel Jack Smith can do about it.

The District Court judge canceled the trial's scheduled start on May 20, saying that too many legal issues remain unresolved, but Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin wrote that Cannon's ruling revealed the case was too complicated for her, and legal experts agree that her oversight of the case was riddled with errors.

“I like to presume that judges act in good faith, even when I disagree with their decisions, but Judge Cannon’s order postponing the trial indefinitely is truly baffling," former U.S. attorney Barbara McQuade told Rubin. "It is not only the defense but also the public that has a right to a speedy trial. Delay causes memories to fade, evidence to go stale, and jury appreciation for the seriousness of the case to diminish.”

“In a case that alleges illegal retention of some of our nation’s most sensitive secrets," McQuade added, "it feels like judicial malpractice to slow-walk this case the way Judge Cannon has.”

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Cannon's foot-dragging also puts national security at risk, Rubin wrote, because U.S. allies might be hesitant to share top-secret information if they don't trust that it will remain in safe hands.

"What can Smith do?" Rubin wrote. "The special counsel might make a motion to recuse. Cannon would deny it, but he could then take it up with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. Ordinarily, delay is not grounds to boot a judge ... Smith nevertheless could argue that under the totality of the circumstances and given the 11th Circuit’s prior chastising of Cannon, as well as the national security concerns, the appeals court should reassign the case. Still, Smith likely would lose."

Smith could also go the the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals seeking a writ of mandamus, which would essentially require Cannon to decide the issues pending in the case, but the special counsel would have to show the government has no other alternative and prove his office had a right to seek that measure.

"Many legal experts still argue that Smith might as well try one of these moves: What has he got to lose?" Rubin wrote. "At the very least, the special counsel can highlight the danger of giving Trump another chance to stock the courts with Aileen Cannons."