Judge Aileen Cannon is delaying former President Donald Trump‘s classified documents case so she can win a place on the U.S. Supreme Court, a law professor and former Bush adviser said.
Richard W. Painter was reacting to a series of hearings that Cannon held on Trump’s motions to have the case dismissed.
Trump nominated Cannon to the federal court in south Florida.
“Judge Cannon sure looks like she’s auditioning for the next open seat on the Supreme Court if Trump wins the election. As Norm Eisen, Fred Wertheimer and I have pointed out before, she shouldn’t be trying this case,” Painter wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on June 24.
Painter, a Republican, was George W. Bush‘s White House ethics lawyer from 2005 to 2007 and is now a professor of corporate law at the University of Minnesota.
Eisen is a Democrat and former federal prosecutor who has been extremely critical of what he believes is Cannon’s partisan handling of the Trump case.
Wertheimer is the founder of Democracy 21, a nonpartisan, nonprofit, organization that works to improve U.S Democracy.
Painter also shared an X post by Eisen in which he wrote: “Judge Cannon held more time-wasting hearings today in Trump’s classified documents case & will continue to do so tomorrow. The fact that this case isn’t at jury selection is inexcusable.”
Newsweek sought email comment from Cannon’s office and from Donald Trump’s office.
Cannon held hearings over three days to determine Jack Smith can stay on as prosecutor in the case.
In the Florida case, the former president is facing 40 federal charges over his handling of sensitive materials seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, after leaving the White House in January 2021. He is also accused of obstructing efforts by federal authorities to retrieve them. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Newsweek contacted Trump’s attorney and the special counsel’s office via email for comment on Friday.
Cannon held a full day hearing on Friday, June 21 to determine if Smith’s appointment is legal.
On Monday, June 24, she held a half day hearing to determine if the funding of Smith’s office is a violation of the constitution’s appropriations clause, which determines how Congress can spend taxpayers money.
On June 25, she held a full day of hearings on whether the FBI legally obtained evidence from Mar–a-Lago.
It was part of a wider range of Trump motions. Cannon has said that she will delay the case until late July while she contemplates the Trump attempts to have the case dismissed.
On June 15, Biden said he believes the winner of the presidential election will have the opportunity to fill two Supreme Court places.
He told an audience in Los Angeles that it would be “one of the scariest parts” of a Trump presidency.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.