Trump-appointed United States District Judge Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case in Florida, continues to be criticized by legal and political pundits for repeatedly delaying the case.
Judge Cannon reshuffled the timing for a number of hearings this week, but kept in place a hearing (on June 21) to discuss a motion by defendant Donald Trump’s lawyers “to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that Jack Smith, the special counsel named to oversee the prosecutions of Mr. Trump, was illegally appointed to his job.”
Harvard Law-trained legal analyst (and former U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic) Norm Eisen said of Cannon and the motion: “If she flies in the face of all precedent and says — either under the appointments clause of the constitution or the appropriations clause of the constitution — that the appointment of Jack Smith was invalid, yes, there is recourse up to the 11th Circuit.”
[Note: the 11th Circuit is the Court of Appeals with jurisdiction in the case.]
Cannon seems scared to rule on the ludicrous motions to throw Jack Smith off of the MAL case
She WANTS to but knows that if she does, the 11th Cir will kick her off instead!
I explained @AC360 w @andersoncooper @JeffreyToobin @ngertner pic.twitter.com/NU3eWbf9n2
— Norm Eisen (#TryingTrump out now!) (@NormEisen) June 6, 2024
Eisen added that Cannon “seems so scared to make a decision that she scheduled over a day of argument on these ludicrous motions. If she knocks Smith out that can go up to the 11th Circuit and she can be removed by the 11th Circuit. That’s why she’s being so careful, so slow, she doesn’t want that to happen. ”