According to a lawyer who served in Donald Trump’s White House, Judge Aileen Cannon is expected to be removed from the case involving the former president’s classified documents.
During an interview on CNN’s Erin Burnett OutFront, Ty Cobb, the former head of the Trump White House response to the Russia election interference investigation, stated that there is clear and undeniable evidence of Cannon’s bias towards Trump.
Donald Trump faces 40 felony charges in Florida, which allege that he intentionally kept numerous classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after his presidency and impeded the government’s attempts to recover them. Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and his legal team has requested the dismissal of the case.
Cannon, a U.S. district judge in Florida, was appointed to the federal bench by Trump in 2020. However, there have been concerns regarding some of Cannon’s judgments that have consistently favored the former president.
Special counsel Jack Smith responded to Cannon’s proposed jury instructions in a recent court filing, stating that they are based on a “fundamentally flawed legal premise.” Cannon’s instructions suggested that former President Trump had the right, under the Presidential Records Act, to classify presidential records as personal property after his term ended.
The indictment dismissal motions and other disputes between the two parties are still pending before Cannon, who has not yet made a ruling. Additionally, no trial date has been set. This case is one of four criminal prosecutions that Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, is currently dealing with while campaigning for re-election. Trump’s legal team has been pushing for the cases to be postponed until after the November election.
When questioned about the reasons behind Judge Cannon’s apparent delay in the case, Cobb expressed his thoughts to CNN’s Burnett. He acknowledged that some commentators have been diplomatic in discussing Judge Cannon’s errors, attributing them to her lack of experience or incompetence. However, Cobb firmly believes that the evidence of her bias is undeniable at this point.
According to him, it is quite astonishing that Cannon has not yet established a trial date.
According to Cobb, the delays in this case are quite unusual. He points out that months ago, the government requested a schedule to be set under the Classified Information Procedures Act, but it was ignored. Cobb believes that the failure to complete the first step of multiple necessary steps has essentially doomed the case, making it unlikely to start before the election or the inauguration of the next winner.
According to Cobb, he believes Smith will aim to remove Cannon from the case.
According to Jack Smith, it is clear from today’s filing that the ruling is necessary. He believes that if the ruling is not made in either scenario, they will have the option to take the case to the 11th Circuit. In his opinion, it is likely that the 11th Circuit will then remove her from the case.
The special counsel’s office did not provide a comment to Newsweek regarding Smith’s potential move to have Cannon removed from the case. Email requests for comments have been sent to Trump’s attorneys. Additionally, Cannon has been contacted for a comment by reaching out to a spokesperson for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida via email.
During his appearance on CNN, Cobb was asked to provide further clarification on whether he believed Cannon’s actions were a result of incompetence or inexperience.
“I disagree,” he responded. “The evidence is simply too compelling. While it’s true that she may lack the necessary skills, her level of incompetence is so extreme that it undeniably gives the impression of bias and favoritism. It’s clear that she is trying to influence the outcome. Therefore, I believe she should be disqualified.”
According to Cobb, even if Cannon is no longer involved in the case, he believes that the trial would not take place until November.
In his opinion, he believes that she has effectively accomplished her objective of showing a preference towards the president, to the extent that this case will not proceed to trial. He added that there is a significant amount of work that still needs to be addressed.
