Is District Judge Aileen Cannon in Trump's pocket?
Dennis Aftergut, a former federal prosecutor, and Laurence Tribe, a renowned legal professor are hinting at that in their Slate article, "Judge Aileen Cannon Is Quietly Sabotaging the Trump Classified Documents Case."
They take note that Trump appointed Cannon to the bench back in 2020 followed by Senate confirmation just days after he lost the presidential election to Biden.
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The legal minds suggest now that Trump is facing several legal quagmires, specifically criminal counts alleging he obstructed justice and hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Cannon is stepping up for him.
"It’s deeply offensive to the rule of law for judges to bend the law to benefit those who put them on the bench," Aftergut and Tribe state. "Sadly, Cannon does just that."
They point to a recent Cannon ruling that rejected special counsel Jack Smith's ask of Trump if he will rely on "advice of counsel" defense as the May 20 trial looms.
Trump has pleaded not guilty.
Cannon denied Smith, arguing it was "not amenable to proper consideration at this juncture, prior to at least partial resolution of pretrial motions” and also further discovery.
"Sounds innocuous," Aftergut and Tribe ask. "It’s anything but."
Time is ticking until that May date, and so too is Trump's momentum on the political stump, where he remains the standout leader of the GOP pack seeking to retake the White House from Biden.
"Instead, it’s part of a pattern we’ve already seen of Cannon laying the groundwork for delaying Trump’s trial — until it’s too late for a jury to be empaneled and the case tried to verdict before the election."
New York University law professor and former deputy to special counsel Robert Mueller Andrew Weissmann, believes the favoritism is brazen.
“Judge Cannon’s bias is showing over and over again,” he told them, adding on Twitter/X that he believed she's “in the bag for Trump.”
