Just when you thought the Department of Justice had Donald Trump backed into a corner over stolen classified documents, in comes a sympathetic Trump judge with a last-ditch effort to rescue the MAGA savior.
Top News Today :
On Monday, US District Judge Aileen Cannon (AKA ‘The Trump Judge’ after being nominated to the court by Donald in 2020) gifted a legal victory to Donald Trump by granting his request that a special master be named to review documents seized by the FBI from his Florida home. Her order effectively halts the Justice Department’s use of the records for investigative purposes, albeit temporarily.
“The Court is mindful that restraints on criminal prosecutions are disfavored, but finds that these unprecedented circumstances call for a brief pause to allow for neutral, third-party review to ensure a just process with adequate safeguards,” the Trump judge wrote in her 24-page order.
The ruling means that an independent arbiter must now be appointed to review the more than 11,000 government records the FBI seized in its search of Mar-a-Lago last month. It also means that this court-appointed “special master” will have broad powers that extend far beyond filtering materials that were not only subject to attorney-client privilege but (supposed) executive privilege as well.
Does this ruling — at least on the surface — appear fair? Read on…
Judge Cannon, who was confirmed by the US Senate only days after Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, is an avowed ReTrumplican and MAGA sympathizer. In fact, in her Senate questionnaire, she described herself as a member of the conservative Federalist Society since 2005.
Aileen Cannon, a 38-year old lawyer and member of the Federalist Society with no prior judicial experience, was hand-picked by Marco Rubio, further blessed by Rick Scott and then nominated by Trump. Can’t imagine that was a factor when Trump went judge shopping. https://t.co/DAhQbYCl77 pic.twitter.com/nxfqmoJhAX
— Peter Vroom 📫🌊 (@PeterVroom1) August 28, 2022
Now, legal minds and political observers are weighing in on why this extraordinary decision from the Trump judge is more of a political move and less of a judicial one.
Paul Rosenzweig, a former homeland security official in the George W. Bush administration and prosecutor in the independent counsel investigation of Bill Clinton, said it was egregious to block the Justice Department from asking witnesses about government files (many marked as classified) that agents had already reviewed.
“This would seem to me to be a genuinely unprecedented decision by a judge,” Mr. Rosenzweig said. “Enjoining the ongoing criminal investigation is simply untenable.”
“Judge Cannon had a reasonable path she could have taken — to appoint a special master to review documents for attorney-client privilege and allow the criminal investigation to continue otherwise,” said New York University law professor, Ryan Goodman. “Instead, she chose a radical path.”
Cannon “has violated her oath and is unfit for the bench,” tweeted political scientist Norman Ornstein. He added that her ruling is “a clear-cut impeachable offense.”
Slate journalist Mark Joseph Stern said he had been assured that “no judge would take Trump’s absurd filing seriously.”
“The problem, of course, is that Cannon is not a real judge, but a Trump judge, and one of the most corrupt of the bunch,” he said.
One official questioned the decision by the Trump judge to include executive privilege documents in her ruling at all.
“The major sticking point, I think, is that the executive privilege documents were included” in the judge’s decision, said Florida criminal defense lawyer Richard Serafini, a former Justice Department prosecutor.
However, there is a belief that the ruling will not hold much significance against the Department of Justice’s case and might end up overturned in an appeal.
“While this is a victory for the former President, it is by no means an overwhelming win for him,” said David Weinstein, a Florida criminal defense lawyer and former Justice Department prosecutor. “While it is a setback for the government, it is also not a devastating loss for them.”
In response to the ruling, Justice Department spokesman Anthony Coley said that “the United States is examining the opinion and will consider appropriate next steps in the ongoing litigation.”
OK WASSUP! discusses the Top News Today:
Trump Judge hands ‘The Donald’ a legal victory.
However, there is a belief that the ruling will not hold much significance against the Department of Justice’s case and might end up overturned in an appeal. […]
Unless I’m mistaken, the appellate court in the Southern District of Florida is made up mostly of Trump appointed Judges too. And if….IF that is the case, I wouldn’t bet on Cannon’s ruling being overturned in an appeal. That said, count me in among the people who believe that “the ruling will not hold much significance against the Department of Justice.”