Aileen Cannon is the judge overseeing the case into Donald Trump’s possession of classified documents. Her ruling was criticized by Andrew Weissman, a former general counsel for the FBI.
The charges
Trump is facing 40 charges related to allegations that he took top secret materials from the White House in 2021 and then interfered with attempts to retrieve them. He has pleaded not guilty.
The judge
The judge overseeing this case, Judge Aileen Cannon, was a Trump appointee.
The ruling
Cannon previously ruled that two of Trump’s co-defendants should be permitted to view some of the classified evidence. This evidence, provided to the defense under discovery, is top secret and can only be viewed in special secure rooms set up in Florida.
The co-defendants
The two co-defendants are Walt Nauta, a Trump aide and valet driver, and Carlos De Oliveira, a maintenance worker at Mar-a-Lago. Both allegedly attempted to assist Trump’s obstruction of the investigation into his possession of classified materials, though the pair deny this.
Cannon’s criticisms
Judge Cannon criticized Special Counsel Jack Smith and his team’s attempts to prevent the co-defendants from viewing the discovery materials. “We are left with the [special counsel’s] broad and unconvincing theory, which is that the Court must change the meaning of the word ‘defendant’ to mean, essentially, ‘defense attorney to the exclusion of the defendant,’ she wrote. “The Court declines to do so.”
Cannon continues
“‘Defendant’ means what it says—the defendant—and although providing discovery to a defendant reasonably contemplates the defendant’s retained or appointed agent reviewing the information too,” she continued, “it does not support the very different proposition that ‘defendant’ means ‘not defendant.’”
Weissman’s accusations
Weissman shared his thoughts on X, formerly Twitter, on the day of the ruling. “Almost pointless discussion when so many real issues are left undecided,” he wrote. “And her language is far too snarky for a federal judge.”
Trump ally?
There are worries that Judge Cannon, a Trump appointee, will help the former President avoid justice. On Thursday, Jack Smith warned that Cannon’s “Court should not allow itself to be manipulated” by Trump.
Delays, delays, delays
The manipulation refers to Trump’s attempts to delay the trial beyond the 2024 election. Should he win, he could then shut the case down.
Shut it down
According to a former federal prosecutor called Preet Bharara, there are three possible ways for Trump to shut down his federal trials. First, Trump could simply pardon himself. Second, he could appoint a sympathetic attorney general. Third, he could claim federal immunity.
Push it back
Judge Cannon has implied that she is open to delaying the trial, which is expected to start in May. “I’m juicer having a hard time seeing how realistically this work can be accomplished in this compressed period of time, given the realities that we’re facing,” Cannon said.
Trump’s argument
Trump’s legal team has frequently complained about the difficulties of preparing for two trials at once. The federal case in Washington, D.C., accusing Trump of interfering in the 2020 election, is set to start on March 4.
Focus on your case
“The court really cannot let the D.C. trial drive the schedule here,” said a prosecutor in the Florida case. “We don’t know what is going to happen in this case. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the D.C. case. That trial could disappear.”
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