A former U.S. Department of Justice official recently shared a deeply critical assessment of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling in favor of former President Donald Trump.
On Thursday, September 15, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman appeared on CNN where he discussed the case with primetime anchor Don Lemon.
Per Mediaite, Cannon, who happens to be a Trump-appointed judge, “rejected a request by the Department of Justice to resume its examination of documents seized by the FBI from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last month.”
Answering Lemon’s question, Litman insisted the judge’s decision is “atrocious.”
“That is a major blow to the Justice Department, don’t you think?” Lemon asked Litman during the segment.
“Yeah,” he replied. “‘Atrocious’ I think is not too strong a word.”
The former official wasted no time elaborating.
“Atrocious, aberrant, because the Justice Department said, ‘We just wanna look at these 100 classified documents.’ That’s what was immediately before her. The only thing Trump said in response is, ‘Classified? Who says they’re classified?’ Oh, except the government. How does something become classified? Because the government, the official authority classified [them].”
Litman also added that Cannon’s decision to allow a third-party review is “bizarre and really incoherent.”
“She had undisputed facts to go one way and she went the other,” he continued. “And remember, she was having to find a heightened standard given what he asked.”
Lemon asked about the DOJ’s next step and Litman confirmed that an appeal is likely up next.
“Yes and yes,” answered Litman. “An appeal is coming. They’re right now huddling to decide just what exactly to make in that appeal. But I think this task that Judge Dearie has been given to somehow call balls and strikes on executive privilege, which has never been done and there’s no legal standard.”
He concluded, “I think you’ll see them moving for a stay, probably tomorrow in the 11th Circuit on the same basis of those hundred classified documents.”
