Legal experts expressed concerns after a judge rejected special counsel Jack Smith’s request to keep government witnesses secret in the case involving Donald Trump’s classified documents.
The judge’s ruling favored public access to the records, prompting worries about potential harm to national security and ongoing investigations.
“Before doing so, Judge Cannon was required to weigh the factors favoring disclosure: potential aid to the defense and the public interest argument asserted by the media groups against those identified by the government: release of the documents could harm national security, impair an ongoing investigation, or compromise potential witnesses in the case,” Berkeley College law professor Jeremy Foley said.
Critics, including former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, raised concerns about the judge’s impartiality and suggested that the case may be unfairly tilted in Trump’s favor.
“If the government is concerned that the judge’s order will cause harm, it can seek emergency relief from the 11th Circuit, which could stay the order pending review. We should know very soon if that happens,” Foley added.
“Judge Aileen Cannon continues to make rulings that are disturbing,” former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance wrote.
“Perhaps we’d view any one of them, on their own, as a judicial aberration. But the pattern of ruling upon ruling that is out of the legal mainstream and results in delay well past the point where this case should have been ready for trial is something that shouldn’t be ignored. Judges should not put their fingers on the scales of justice either for or against a defendant or any other party. Here, it’s impossible to avoid the conclusion that the scales are being tipped.”
The upcoming hearing under the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) will be a significant test, with expectations of further delays and potential motions for the judge’s recusal.
“The time for Smith to decide whether to actively seek Cannon’s recusal, or at least hint to the Circuit that it’s merited, will be after the Section 4 hearing rulings are issued,” Vance said.
“Forced recusals are rare. But at this late date, even if the 11th Circuit were to move quickly, as it has in the past, and force Cannon to step aside, it would take a new judge some time to get up to speed. There are no quick fixes for the damage Judge Cannon has done,” she added.
The order has prompted discussions about potential motions to remove the judge from the case, reflecting widespread dissatisfaction with the judge’s decisions.
Tuesday’s order “will trigger a motion to remove her,” Harvard Law Prof. Laurence Tribe said.
“The 11th Circuit might well agree this was the last straw. Compromising national security is a bridge too far,” he wrote.
“It is impossible to overstate how awful and unethical is Aileen Cannon,” Norman Ornstein said. “Clearly has no business being a judge at any level.”
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