'In the soup': Legal expert explains how Judge Cannon 'may have actually' hurt Trump

US District Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida — who was appointed to her lifetime position by then-President Donald Trump — has been roundly criticized for actions perceived as biased in favor of the former president. However, a former federal prosecutor says Cannon's actions may actually be accelerating Trump's legal headaches.

Currently, Trump is scheduled to stand trial in Cannon's court on May 20, 2024 for allegedly mishandling classified documents. However, Cannon's pattern of delaying multiple pretrial procedures suggest that the trial could either be pushed back until after the 2024 election, or — in the event that Trump wins the general election — cancelled altogether. Daily Beast legal correspondent Jose Pagliery recently wrote that earlier this month, Cannon "pushed back what might have been a one- or two-day meeting with prosecutors to review classified documents until February." Legal experts say these delays will almost certainly mean a May 20 trial date won't be feasible.

During a recent appearance on political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen's podcast, former Assistant US Attorney Glenn Kirschner opined that Judge Cannon's delays may actually be what delivers speedy justice in another jurisdiction. Because Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis recently announced an August 5 trial date for Trump and his co-defendants, Kirschner argued that Cannon "may have actually screwed" the former president by "opening up his schedule."

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"Judge Cannon may have been trying to help Donald Trump out a little bit, [but] she may have put him right in the soup," Kirschner said of Cannon's pretrial delays. "[Cannon] may have delayed Donald Trump right into an August RICO trial date."

"Here's what people should know. You know, folks might say ... 'If he's scheduled to go to trial in Florida in his documents, obstruction, espionage case beginning on May 20, couldn't they finish that trial, and then go right into the early August trial in Georgia?' The answer is almost certainly no," Kirschner added. "Because if a defendant is in trial for two or three months, even if technically that defendant is no longer in that trial beginning on August 5, there's not a judge in the land who will say, 'OK, Trump, you were just in trial for three months ... Now we're going to make you and your defense team go right into a trial in another jurisdiction without a breather."

Aside from the potential May 20 trial date in Florida and the August 5 trial date in Georgia, Trump is also expected to stand trial on March 4, 2024 in Washington, DC, where he is facing four felony counts in relation to his alleged plot to overturn the 2020 election.

Listen to the full podcast episode by clicking here.