Legal experts tore into right-wing District Judge Aileen Cannon for pausing several pre-trial deadlines in former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago classified documents case — a move widely expected to be a prelude for pushing back the May 4 trial date.
Cannon, noted Salon's Tatyana Tadanpole, "authorized a paperless order delaying the deadlines she'd previously set for October 2023 through May 2024, when the trial for Trump and his three co-defendants in the case is scheduled to start in Fort Pierce, Florida. Though Cannon's order doesn't address the May 20 start date for the trial itself, it does state that all of the scheduled deadlines connected to classified information are on hold 'pending consideration and resolution' of a Trump motion proposing a new timeline that was filed last month."
A number of former prosecutors and attorneys shredded Cannon's decision, warning that she is making a move to protect the president who appointed her to the bench from the law — something she has already been caught doing once before.
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"Not a good sign for those who want a trial in May. We haven’t even reached the point in CIPA where the court has truly difficult decisions to make," tweeted former DOJ official Brandon Van Grack, who worked on the Russia probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller.
Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance concurred, saying, "This is a judge who is happy to see the case move slowly."
Meanwhile, former Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe was scathing: "I was among those who once called her a 'loose Cannon.' That was wrong. She’s firmly anchored — to one thing and one thing only: Donald Trump’s interest in escaping accountability until after the election. It’s a complete disgrace."
A further delay of the case would decrease the likelihood that any sort of verdict could be reached before the 2024 presidential election is held; some experts have warned he could try to pardon himself if re-elected, although Trump has claimed that is "very unlikely."
