Judge Cannon's favoritism for Trump is evident, and honest judges must be angry about her egregious behavior. More irony as Judge Cannon proves the MAGA contention that the system is rigged. Shouldn't someone be trying to disbar her by now? It shouldn't be up to just Jack Smith to save us and the judicial system from this wretched judge.
Judge Cannon's favoritism for Trump is evident, and honest judges must be angry about her egregious behavior. More irony as Judge Cannon proves the MAGA contention that the system is rigged. Shouldn't someone be trying to disbar her by now? It shouldn't be up to just Jack Smith to save us and the judicial system from this wretched judge.
Cannon's behavior is more disturbing than anything else I've read this morning. With so much of our national security at stake, she seems very nonchalant about postponing this trial indefinitely. She should be removed from her clearly biased position.
"It shouldn't be up to just Jack Smith to save us and the judicial system from this wretched judge."
It shouldn't be up to just Jack Smith to save us and the constitutional system from this wretched GOP. It's up to our fellow Americans - on juries and in the election. And it's a great leap of faith. The Founders had qualms about democracy. But as the Wyoming case demonstrates, - as do Charles Koch, Leonard Leo, Mitch McConnell, and Trump himself - government cannot be better trusted to White men of property than to anyone else.
What made Daniel's testimony compelling are the details. She expected to meet Trump as entertainment business people. When he opened the door in pajamas, she got him to go get dressed. They talked business. When he got out of line, she threatened to discipline him. He handed her a rolled magazine and dared her - she smacked his butt and he behaved. (Until she came out of the bathroom and saw him posed on a bed in his undies. And she went into a dissociative state, as who wouldn't.) My take away - whoever moderates the presidential debates should have a rolled magazine prominently in sight.
Lin -- Better yet, Stormy and Jean Carrol should have front row seats, the way trompy had a couple former paramour of Bill Clinton at one of the debates trompy had with Hillary. Rolled-up magazines would be good props if allowed.
And all the other women who have come forward to assert they'd been abused by him - all those women who, as teens, had participated in one of his so-called "pageants", really just an excuse for his voyeurism. And Marla and Melania.
Here it is the day after (June 28th), and "that" surely did not happen. In fact we were forewarned that fact-checking woud be impossible with the time constraints. Even though Joe Biden knew the facts, he was placed in an untenable position to defend the onslaught of unrelenting Trumpian lying.
Makes me wonder if she wants to be removed. Maybe from her thinking in the dark with her head on the pillow, that being removed is the safest option she faces?
Joan, I think you bring up a good point. If she recused herself, she would suffer the wrath of T and his cronies. She obviously sides with T. If she were removed, she could say it was beyond her control. Just a thought.
Joan and Randall, the pillow comment made me think of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, in the reign of Elizabeth I. When asked about his attempts to marry Mary, Queen of Scots, he said he would never want to put his head on her pillow. Turned out he still did and then lost his head to the executioner. I would just like Loose Cannon to lose her judgeship and then be disbarred.
I agree about her being permanently removed from the bench, Michele, but I'm against disbarment... only because I'd break out the popcorn to see her lose case after case because she doesn't know the law or how to deal with evidence.
I'm in the middle of moving, Michele, with painters in the place I'm leaving (which entails keeping la perrita shut up in my office). I'm just downing coffee #3, and have yet to go arrange internet service for the new place. It's hard enough in English, but I'm terrified of trying to get it right in Spanish! Wish me caffeinated luck.
I've been thinking the same thing about Cannon for some time - she wants to be removed from the case. More and more I believe that wiser heads on the 11th Circuit don't want to remove her, because whatever verdict is reached will be appealed and if the verdict favors tRump then her clear expressions of bias in this trial will make it far harder for tRump to prevail before a higher court.
And I'm becoming less concerned about the trials being pushed back after the election. Lazy pundits and scaremongers have been saying for months that if Trump wins in November he can just wave his magic mushroom and make all these prosecutions disappear.
1) He can't make Georgia disappear, nor any of the other state fake elector cases still being developed in which tRump is a presently-unindicted co-conspirator.
2) tRump may believe he can slow the roll of the DOJ on the federal criminal cases, but he can't make the extensive case fact records, and the grand jury indictments handed down on the basis of these facts, just disappear.
3) Not to jinx anything but increasingly it looks to me that tRump and the GOP can't win in 2024 unless they actually manage to pull off election fraud on a scale far more massive than what they falsely accused Democrats of in 2020. They've shown us their playbook. In their arrogant stupidity, they've actually written it down. They're explicitly saying "this is what we're going to do." And it seems they actually believe that the majority in this country are just going to let them get away with it
Last night, Neal Katyal said on MSNBC that there aren't many options that Jack Smith has to either compel her to act, or to have her removed for slow-walking the case. He is the former acting assistant Solicitor General. He said that the Dept of Justice is loath to replace judges, and expressed dismay that she's chosen to further delay the trial.
However, on the plus side, Katyal said that this opens a spot for Defendant donny's Jan 6 trial, which he believes is still possible to conduct before the election.
Depends on SCOTUS doing the right things, Doug, i.e., finding against the all of the immunity argument and ruling before this session ends. From the tenor of their questions, they seem to be leaning toward defining personal vs official acts and sending the matters back to Chutkin to sort out. Even as efficient as she is, that could delay the start of her trial. And SCOTUS might choose to hold their ruling over to the next session. I wouldn't put it past Roberts.
I think Neal is smoking something WRT the 1/6 trial. The Supreme Court has made it pretty clear (the right wing of it) that they do not want to see this trial go forth before the election. Who knows how long they sit on this latest ruling, and who know what delays that ruling, when it comes, will cause.
We shall see, but (and I'm not a lawyer or legal scholars, but follow several who are, so take this with a grain of salt) I suspect that a ruling somewhat splitting the baby will be issued before the end of this SCOTUS session, and Jack Smith will be able to proceed.
Even apart from her bias, she has proven herself to be ignorant of important laws and the proper conduct of a trial. She also appears incompetent in reading and responding to critical docs, like motions and briefs. She's a fucking disaster and ought to be removed from the bench permanently, not just from joyboy's case.
Why should these Trump people adhere to any rule or law. They believe they are untouchable. And they are convinced that WHEN Trump returns to the White House, he will pardon all his supporters.
And that he would…the autocratic playbook has been and still currently is on display…don’t stand next to a window on the 5th floor in Russia just 1 needs mentioned) if you ‘disapprove’ . ‘You’re Fired’ was a clear indicator here..the roll changes ad infinitum were bold print clues.
We really need to remember how important Mitch McConnell has been in turning the courts into a wholly owned subsidiary if the RNC. His refusal to let any of Obama's nominees come to a vote so that a theoretical republican successor stack the courts as the Republicans saw fit is on him, not on Trump.
Lewis your anger is understandable. But don't condemn all historians. We are more than a racist nation, the word is xenophobic. A fear of strangers not like "us". Florida is trying to disenfranchise Chinese. How American Back people like Tim Scott could align themself with trump is very puzzling. The coming election frightens me also. How can so many people be oblivious to the dangers that trump is openly revealing is what is most disturbing. It can not be ignorance but raw hatred.
Mr. Baum, I do not condemn all...try 99%. Exception, Historian Tim Snyder. BUT it is COLOR... it is HAIR... it is RACE... and we Americans are daft... as for Dear Heather... and Boston College... read WHITE on WHITE, AFRAID, DENIAL, and BLIND.
I'm sure the deleted comment innocently listed the address of the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines instead of the White House by mistake, but now that I found the White House listed in Zillow, it inspires consideration of it being for sale.
We are the real owners, though, and are supposed to have a fair choice in, at least, who the tenants are .
Zillow often shows inaccurate information. In this listing, their claim that the property is not for sale is clearly wrong, and has been for some years.
I do agree about the reaction of a lot of people to having Obama in the White House. T just made it a sign of 'proud to be not-woke' and to say it out loud.
There is no longer any denying the forest from the trees , on so many avenues/paths. The American Dream is done , few see the puzzle coming together/connections weak/dancing all around the corpse. John Stewart’s cry comes closest to nailing it. The circus of traitors insidiously beat the last vestige rhetorically. Cannon is the canary.
Metaphors?
A change of unequalled challenge is upon the World. There are no winners, only survivors on the last boat.
We are truly all in this together, Joyce, the visionary…. correctly.
Eloquent writing, laid out meticulously, shouted the warning well in some circles, lies and ridicule in others, designed from histories downfalls, the playbook of the coal mine or the cold mind counted and calculated .
I think the overturning of Roe was also a canary (can we have 2?). I think it pointed us right back to the Declaration which says all men are created equal. Put us women right back in our place to be only protected as property, not as human beings. We would be better off arguing our property rights were violated with the overturning of Roe because that’s how we were regarded when the Declaration was penned…as property.
And property is that over which you have control. You get to eat YOUR sandwich. You get to drive YOUR car. The idea that people can be property is tyrannical. The concept of universal equality means that no person can be property. We have rights and responsibilities, but are subject to no autocratic whim. The tension between those who would be masters and those they would regard as slaves is as old as humanity.
It also seems to me that there is strong tie-in to notions of supremacy, racial, religious, gender, financial, etc. that posits narcissistic privilege over others. That's the tragic flaw that could bring down our species. No? Noem felt justified in killing an adolescent dog that failed to acknowledge her presumed superiority. For centuries, those impulses have left a wake of blood.
Realty always has the last word, and it's not like we have had no opportunities to learn of where tyranny leads. Sufficient votes for sanity can stop the spread of madness.
"It is not a joke and when this goon is president he will you this info for his own power. Poor pitiful America. What a great idea it was"
The odd 'typos' and degrading sentiment make this comment suspect. But on face value. The United States of America was a great idea. And overall it has proven a great form of government. A democratic republic founded on a declaration of equality and constituted by coming to consensus through reasoned debate of empirical evidence. Enduringly making progress towards fulfilling these aspirations. Repurposing it as a corporate clerical fascist state, a la the GOP is a very bad idea. As shown by Russia.
I'm not throwing in the towel, Peter, and neither should any of us. Totalitarianism depends on us being disheartened. Courage, mes braves, et aux barricades.
If you mean Trump, then I wouldn't bet on him never being elected again. But I'm certainly working to keep Trump from being elected again. By those on the right and the left.
In 2016 everyone was saying "He can't win." From field work, by early Summer, I was certain that he would win. So it inordinately worries me when people say that - I miss any nuance.
Laurie, sometime ago I came across an interesting post about Judge Cannon. I had a very dim view of her actions to date and wondered if she were partisan. This piece added some nuance to the situation and made me step back from my initial assessment…seems things truly are more complicated than they seem on the surface. Eventually I hope the truth will be revealed and justice will prevail. See the link here: https://davidlat.substack.com/p/clerking-for-judge-aileen-cannon-why-clerks-quit
Barbara, kind of you to be so non-judgemental, but Lat is full caca. He is playing 'intellectual Zamboni' for the indefensible Cannon. (Note he was VP Federalist Society at Yale, grew up as neighbor of Nixon). Cannon isn't stupid, she is just incredibly biased for Trump. Her rulings on co-defendants show no such sympathy. Her rulings are absurd. ABSURD! She takes every opportunity to bad mouth Jack Smith even when she needs to reverse herself because her previous ruling is soooo egregiously wrong. Listen to podcast JACK, by former FBI Director McCabe, for better info.
Opps, my comment posted twice (why?) and when I tried to delete just one, they both disappeared. Oh well. So shall try again.
Basically I commented that I realized this was a one-and-only article of its kind—delving into her background, etc. & want to be open to various opinions & not siloed into like-think. That said, it will be interesting how this plays out….is it more to her inexperience or, perhaps, partisan views coloring her decisions? I dunno, but it’s not going well in any case…my focus is on that old adage “justice delayed is justice denied”. She may end up being a footnote in history books….
As a peon in the peanut gallery and viewing from far away, anyone who watched 6Jan live with horror and deep dismay knows Trump is a sleazy Putin puppet who should be stripped of his citizenship and deported permanently. This case should be the deciding factor in that event. This case will separate the men from the boys as far as lawyers go, and may make the difference between the USA's demise or survival as a democracy
I agree with you, Barbara, that it's a good thing to review alternate points of view. Nonetheless, regardless of how overworked and/or inexperienced Cannon may be, her opinions and rulings in both cases have been way off mark. It doesn't matter to me if her problem is bias, stress, or incompetence; she ought to be taken off this current case and, imho, removed from the bench permanently. Without scolding or prejudice, but outta there.
Lauren, I was recently listing to NPR whilst driving on errands & the subject matter was “management” positions. My takeaway (and that I have experienced in my working life) some folks really DO have the chops to do it well, and others, as the Peter Principle posits, rise to the level of their incompetency. She sure does seem way way way over her head & for that I have some sympathy. IF she realizes this, IMHO, she should seek wise counsel on how to step up or to step away, unless personal hubris is playing a role. Some folks are thrown in the deep end unprepared (think Zelensky) and rise to, even surpass, the occasion….others, like TFFG, it just amplifies their lack of fitness (or, indeed, profound harm) for the role.
Thanks, Barbara. If nothing else, the author is trying to put the humanity back in Cannon, a hard sell for many, to be sure. Being on the outside of it, I have a hard time seeing the complexity that the author is trying to convey this case is. How hard could it be to determine that boxes and boxes of documents that belong to the National Archives are instead in someone's bathroom?
Morning, Lynell. I agree that this should be a real open and shut case: You had 'em and weren't supposed to. Period.
Cases are usually tried (at least at my level of expertise) where the crime took place, in this case, Washington, D.C. However, the crime of possession of stolen property took place in Florida. I do not understand the nuance of filing in Florida rather than D.C. I can only assume that there is one.
Lastly, the opinion I have of Judge Cannon is something that I'd let loose with on TAFM, but not here. Suffice to say that lack of knowledge, lack of qualifications, lack of judicial temperament, and lack of judicial experience are paramount in my opinion.
I am still of the opinion that the documents case is the most important of them all. The damage to our national security to give the trump family more money and bolster trumps image of himself is the worst thing imaginable. I feel
Certain some of them have been sold and some still in hiding! This person and his gang of traitors should be jailed for life, every last one of them. Including the judge!
Susan, it is also appalling to hear accounts (from the person he spoke to!!) of what he would discuss with random folks…seems to me as a way to “puff up” his importance and impress them…so immature. Seems to me the whole documents case is a no-brainer & he was caught red-handed & flat footed….or maybe bone spurs were involved.
It's pretty cut and dried, as you say, Lynell. I'm personally more concerned that Cannon doesn't seem to know enough pertinent law or proper trial procedure to be at this particular helm. I wish she'd realized it herself and recused, but she didn't, and none of us know why. For that huge misjudgment on her part, I say take her off the bench forever.
TCinLA, I’m not a fan of Judge Cannon and I agree with your general reaction. However, I do not appreciate your reference to her using a slur based on her gender (bimbo). Wouldn’t your opinion of her work as a judge be the same if she was male? By referring to her as a bimbo you imply otherwise. How would you refer to her if she were male?
An interesting article, Barbara. Thanks for the link. Given the connections Judge Cannon has to right-wing funders and causes, I wonder if some of the problems in her office reflect her desire to please those folks, so she must come up with more reasons to delay the actual trial. Perhaps her clerks are doing lots of case history research to that end, rather than actually dealing with the paperwork and evidence in the Trump case itself. If she's truly overwhelmed by the demands of this case, I imagine that other judges would be able to appropriately mentor/guide her as needed, assuming that's allowed. She doesn't seem to be concerned about the damage she's causing to her own reputation.
Personally, I think it's pretty clear that she's gambling on a Trump re-election to save her butt and, possibly as a reward for the delay, an appointment to the Supreme Court. After all, everything IS transactional in Trumpworld.
Yeah, Laurie, I wondered how she is reflecting on all of this, and wondering if an unseen hand (influence from ???) is affecting her. Hopefully, someday, all will be revealed and she will take her place as a footnote to history.
Barbara, somehow I can't picture her reflecting on the rule of law or the moral obligations of a judge. She might be reflecting on her future and must know that if she tires of being a judge, she'll have a good gig on Fox or other right-wing media, or teaching at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University.
I'm 78 now, so I'd love to come back in about 30-40 years to see what happens re: Trump, American populism, the embrace of authoritarianism, etc. - and to see what historians have to say about this wild, scary, unreal period.
LOL…Laurie…I’ve often said the only reason I want to live forever is to find out how it all turns out! [and that applies to many issues that would take us to Earth’s end in some 5 billion years, give or take a day or so….think I’d be WAY too tired to hang on that long!]
Oh my gosh, Barbara, imagine if George Washington or Ben Franklin or Jane Austen or Elizabeth I could drop in now. I wonder what they'd say about us and the world.
Just my two cents--I feel like this same 25-35% of the population that has always been with us--slavers, KKK, Nazis, racists, authoritarians, MAGA--I don't think this era we're in is particularly unusual. We're just more aware of them, because our news comes from more heterogeneous sources.
Please include Nation of Islam leaders Elijah Muhammad and Louis Farrakhan who amplified the antisemitism of the Christian Gospels and whose bigotry against White people is the ideological flip side of KKK bigotry against Black people. (Ideological, although obviously without the practical impact.) Although, Farrakhan is a dominant Black leader and his antisemitism has seeped into Left wing activism. And has now tragically shifted the focus on recent protests - away from the abuses of the Netanyahu regime onto the antisemitism of a vehement minority of the protestors.
The hands are not unseen. They are Charles Koch's, Leonard Leo's, the foreigner Elon Musk, the men, always men,behind the investment banks, the Russian oligarchs. The hands are myriad. They play the puppet strings while we just want to mow our lawns, play with our kids, and maybe buy an electric vehicle so the planet doesn't roast.
I caught part of an MSNBC show last weekend, Ayman’s, where he was interviewing someone in the financial world, I believe, who when asked who he would be voting for (this after some laughing over Trump’s antics) said Trump. Why? Because STOCKHOLDERS are the most important people and them keeping their money is the most important issue. I have been appalled ever since, even though I know many who vote their portfolios and not their love of country. To just say that out loud and for the interviewer, on a network I like, not to challenge him but seem amused left me infuriated. I’ve thought about it these past few days. How do we get to these people who have placed what they have over what the nation needs?
Barbara, this was fascinating. Thank you. I wish more people would encourage us to be less one dimensional. Cannon is more than an obstacle to justice.
Based on this author's research, she is quite bright and under other circumstances could be a fine judge and mentor of clerks. But it appears she is way over her head. And as a result, accountability for one of the most obvious and most egregious acts by an American president is being bogged down.
Doesn't Cannon appreciate the monstrosity of the deed in question? Doesn't she get what a traitorous act the theft of documents represents? Of course she does. If she is so smart, she must. Therefore, she is a puppet or a member of the extremist MAGA right.
By delaying the trial, she is indeed an obstacle to justice and therefore, essentially, an accessory to the crime.
I applaud learning that she is a more complex person than portrayed. I actually have some sympathy for her plight. But if she were to act responsibly, she would make one of two choices NOW. Set a court date ASAP for well before the election. Or step back from the case - send her clerks with all their developed research to the next judge.
If only she could have asked for help. But at this stage in her career, that would stain her reputation for years. There is no forgiveness or empathy for people whose competence is overwhelmed by logistical and emotional distress.
Barbara, Thank You for the link to David Lat's article.
TFFG ruins everything he touches. He has cast a pall on our legal system. Now we have been retrained to doubt everything that comes out of our courts. I am skeptical about everything to some degree anyway, so it doesn't bother me that David Lat might be spinning his own bias in his writing. But after reading his story about Judge Cannon's struggles with her clerks, and her thinking like an appellate judge when she needs to be thinking like a trial judge, etc, I find that I prefer that version, instead of casting her as a partisan hack.
I hate the idea that she is merely a partisan hack.
Similarly, I hate the idea that several members of the US Supreme Court will probably never be able to write a soaring opinion that advances the cause of justice well into the distant future. I wish there were some way that we could all work together to persuade Chief Justice Roberts to get in touch with his conscience, and begin to attempt to restore the dignity of the Court. And does Judge Cannon need more resources from DoJ, or whoever, to help with her workload on such an important case?
As I wrote earlier today, the case of the mishandled classified documents is too important to be allowed to fall by the wayside.
David, I believe that David Lat has possibly damaged his back by twisting himself into a pretzel to defend Cannon. What I see is yet another person seduced by the power around 45. She could have recused herself, but chose to stay on, not realizing how difficult it would be to try a widely publicized trial with a defendant whose business model is “never pay what is owed” and “delay until your opponent is broken and you never have to pay the full price”. A judge used to dealing with criminal sociopaths would have recognized the tactics; Cannon seems to have fallen for them. Jack Smith should appeal to the Appeals Court and they should rescue her before she drowns and rescue the American people from her bad decisions. This isn’t a hypothetical case in moot court; this is a fight for accountability to prove that this a nation of laws.
Once you are in Trump’s pocket (or Putin’s) there is no safe way out. But you might not know that until it’s too late. It doesn’t matter how smart you are or the school you graduated from or even if you can barely read at all, you know that he can,and will, reach in and squash you like a bug if you fail to praise him.
Terribly Faustian, and yet I have no sympathy. The moral of that story is that we should have NO truck with the devil... he's a liar and a cheat and will always find a way to make you regret your deal just before you roast in hell forever.
David H: I think it’s possible to think that both are true - she’s in over her head and she’s biased. These two “explanations “ aren’t mutually exclusive. I reacted to Lat as you did. As someone who remembers how it feels to face a bigger project than I could then handle competently…. And BTW, I don’t know anyone who could decline or recuse an assignment based on work overload.
While I don't think this article excuses Judge Cannon's decisions....it does share an overview of her issues. Right or wrong. Of course her chaotic management of her cases...shows her inexperience...and poor management. Not everyone manages work properly....or well. Unfortunately, her mismanagement looks pro-Trump....and probably defaults to a pro-Trump basis.
Thanks for the link. It does help to know the behind the scenes issues. It's sad that the pressure of being assigned the documents case did so much damage to her as a manager and that she's now got staff who lack the experience -- and possibly the clearance -- to be of real service to her and to justice.
Barbara, David, Emily and MisTBlu, "I came across an interesting post about Judge Cannon. I had a very dim view of her actions to date and wondered if she were partisan. This piece added some nuance to the situation and made me step back from my initial assessment…seems things truly are more complicated than they seem on the surface."
Perhaps the best thing to emerge from getting a look behind the scenes does 2 things: 1) to restore some semblance of respect for a legal system and those on whom we rely to make it work which, on the whole, has served us relatively well through the past 2 centuries despite the deviance evident in a small minority of those judges;
2) the look behind the scenes helps remind us that "the truth" is ALWAYS more complicated than the headlines and summary judgments we make which allow us to proceed without having to think our way through the complexity or to simultaneously hold two different feelings about the same issue - a very human experience!
With absolute respect for the nuances of what is preventing Cannon from managing her trial correctly, or even adequately, the fact remains that she isn't.
I don't need to bad-mouth the woman or the judge, I just want to see justice done, and if she can't deliver for any reason or set of reasons, she should step down. A well-educated, intelligent, 40 year old person should have the self-awareness to know when s/he's failing at an important task and get help or get off it.
Barbara, I don't have quite the same take as you after reading this article by Lat. He seems to say that she's inexperienced (though smart), is overwhelmed by it all, and leans toward the Defendant in this case.
She has slow-walked bringing this case to trial, which is now delayed without a date. Neal Katyal made the point last night on MSNBC that the docs case isn't complicated. As comparison, he said that Sam Banks-Friedman, the bit coin fraud, was charged in Nov '22 and was found guilty in Aug '23, in a much more complex case.
Putting Lat's opinions together, it leads to my conclusion that Cannon is over her head and incompetent due to inexperience, with a strong bias for the Defendant. She should have recused herself, given her situation in general.
Meanwhile, national security remains at risk due to the theft of documents, and who knows how many classified docs yet are unaccounted for?
I'm going to make a comparison here between Attorney General Merrick Garland and Judge Aileen Cannon: Garland is an experienced Judge now having the role of the nation's top prosecuting attorney, a role he filled well at the national level. Cannon is young lacks experience, and is a former appellate judge now serving as a district trial judge. Both of these individuals may well be great people, and have experience and/or temperament to do these jobs, but each are ill-suited for their current roles.
Mr. Garland still thinks too much like a judge, and lacks the prosecutorial fire that let him successfully prosecute the Murrah Building attack. He needed to have that same prosecutorial fire to address the Insurrection of January 6, 2021 rather than the slow, methodical approach he has taken thus far. Judge Cannon has almost no trial experience, and is responsible for handling the first case ever of a former president who stole classified documents and stored some of them in a bathroom off of a common access area to a swimming pool at a golf resort. She may be giving more weight to what she has 2 previous years experience with (Appellate Judge) than what is normal for a trial judge, but that does not address her obvious bias.
Good comparison, Ally. I'm withholding judgment on Garland even though his molasses in January approach to his role is interfering badly with the US getting back on track post-TFG and post-Covid (although both are still in our air supply). I get the justice delayed is justice denied thing, and still if he nails them all firmly and finally at the end of his plod, I'll be happy. Meanwhile, whether Garland is temperamentally unsuited to be top cop, or if he's just bad at it, it's up to us to keep our democracy. No heroes coming to the rescue, just voters.
Same for Cannon - who she is in all her complexity and why she's screwing up her trial aren't important except as thought exercise. What is salient is that she is screwing it up. The difference is that we have no power to vote her out - maybe just endless postcards to the 11th Circuit to get her off the case for cause. We can deconstruct later at leisure.
Ally, you expressed so well what I’ve been thinking for months!
It’s a shame about Garland; I believe that he would have been lauded as a great Supreme Court justice. Instead, his choice to examine every case from all sides and from every possible permutation has hogtied him in a job that requires action, not deliberation.
Recovering lawyer here. Thank you for the article, Barbara.
Clerking for a federal court judge is a plum, reserved for the very best newly-trained lawyers. Most judges are demanding, because adjudication is demanding. Any court case involves at a minimum an enormous amount of time and personal (I'd say "psychic", or "spiritual", but those seem too crunchy granola) investment by the litigants, to say nothing of the expense, all of which will inevitably affect all their futures in one way or another. In a case involving national security, it also requires an enormous investment of time and effort on the part of the lawyers and judiciary as well. No wonder this inept, inexperienced judge has had trouble keeping or even hiring clerks; the atmosphere in Chambers must be deadly. Clerking for Cannon would besmirch anyone's reputation and resume, unless they just want to go to work for Kacsmaryk, of course. And because of her ineptitude in this specific case and the effects on her chambers of that ineptitude, to say nothing of her bias, the American people are denied the effective and timely prosecution of a person who is an obvious threat to national security.
Thanks, Lynn, for your “inside” perspective. She sure is making a name for herself and not in a good way unless, perhaps, Project 2025 comes to pass IF that’s her schtick. Can’t really be in another’s head and can only base opinions on one’s words and deeds….IMHO she’s falling short especially for such a critical once-in-a-lifetime (or, so far, a nation’s) case. Like others, perhaps she shall one day write a tell-all book and we can find out, you know, when her words/actions no longer could have any impact.
I'm not a lawyer but suspect that disbarring a sitting judge in the middle of hearing one of the most consequential cases in US history would be, for all intents and purposes, impossible. And even if it weren't, the process would likely not even begin until the trial in question had concluded and would surely take until long after the November election to complete. Consider, for example, how long Eastman's disbarment is taking -- years -- and even now his disbarment is actually a temporary license suspension, and the wrangling goes on and on.
More to the point is the issue of getting relief from the 11th Circuit, perhaps in the form of a writ of mandamus, or perhaps as an order to recuse. As has been pointed out elsewhere (see the Joyce Vance column HCR cites today, including the comments), Judge Cannon in her machinations and maneuverings has cleverly avoided doing anything appealable, leaving Smith stymied no matter how bizarre Cannon's moves (or failures to move) have been and how blatant her pro-Trump bias appears to be.
That has led in turn to conversation about whether Cannon, who has shown herself to be inexperienced as a judge if not outright incompetent, is receiving lots of coaching from somewhere, holding her hand as she takes the steps needed to ensure the trial won't happen before the election.
If Cannon is getting coaching, which one can't help but suspect, you can bet it ain't coming from the ACLU. :-)
Judge Cannon is a member of the Federal Judiciary, and as such is subject to the ethics rules that are in place. The recent exposure of her failure to report a luxury resort trip appropriately should have some merit in assessing her fitness.
I’m wondering if she doesn’t see the coaching (which I also suspect she is getting from the Right) as the only lifeline she’s got. And if she’s overworked and her clerks aren’t up to speed, delay would seem like the only way to catch up. Not to mention it keeps the MAGAs happy.
I doubt this is all a simple good vs evil situation.
Also not a lawyer, pts, but I don't see why the 11th Circuit can't pull her off the case for the counter-legal rulings she's made. I'll go read the Vance article, and maybe then I'll see what I'm missing.
A good question that's way above my pay grade; I don't know for sure but don't think an appeals court can act sua sponte (if that's the correct use of that term), that is, without having received some sort of formal request or appeal. Would be great to hear from a qualified lawyer on this, and also on how Jack Smith might go about finding out whether or how Judge Cannon may have been improperly advised.
Judge Cannon's favoritism for Trump is evident, and honest judges must be angry about her egregious behavior. More irony as Judge Cannon proves the MAGA contention that the system is rigged. Shouldn't someone be trying to disbar her by now? It shouldn't be up to just Jack Smith to save us and the judicial system from this wretched judge.
Cannon's behavior is more disturbing than anything else I've read this morning. With so much of our national security at stake, she seems very nonchalant about postponing this trial indefinitely. She should be removed from her clearly biased position.
"It shouldn't be up to just Jack Smith to save us and the judicial system from this wretched judge."
It shouldn't be up to just Jack Smith to save us and the constitutional system from this wretched GOP. It's up to our fellow Americans - on juries and in the election. And it's a great leap of faith. The Founders had qualms about democracy. But as the Wyoming case demonstrates, - as do Charles Koch, Leonard Leo, Mitch McConnell, and Trump himself - government cannot be better trusted to White men of property than to anyone else.
What made Daniel's testimony compelling are the details. She expected to meet Trump as entertainment business people. When he opened the door in pajamas, she got him to go get dressed. They talked business. When he got out of line, she threatened to discipline him. He handed her a rolled magazine and dared her - she smacked his butt and he behaved. (Until she came out of the bathroom and saw him posed on a bed in his undies. And she went into a dissociative state, as who wouldn't.) My take away - whoever moderates the presidential debates should have a rolled magazine prominently in sight.
Lin -- Better yet, Stormy and Jean Carrol should have front row seats, the way trompy had a couple former paramour of Bill Clinton at one of the debates trompy had with Hillary. Rolled-up magazines would be good props if allowed.
Perfect, Doug Gagne. Too many have forgotten that moment.
And all the other women who have come forward to assert they'd been abused by him - all those women who, as teens, had participated in one of his so-called "pageants", really just an excuse for his voyeurism. And Marla and Melania.
Doug, also brilliant
HaHaHa! Still laughing! Great comment.
Here it is the day after (June 28th), and "that" surely did not happen. In fact we were forewarned that fact-checking woud be impossible with the time constraints. Even though Joe Biden knew the facts, he was placed in an untenable position to defend the onslaught of unrelenting Trumpian lying.
Makes me wonder if she wants to be removed. Maybe from her thinking in the dark with her head on the pillow, that being removed is the safest option she faces?
Joan, I think you bring up a good point. If she recused herself, she would suffer the wrath of T and his cronies. She obviously sides with T. If she were removed, she could say it was beyond her control. Just a thought.
Thanks for breaking it down into logic— it’s true to the image I had of her being between a rock and a hard place.
Where you state “her head on the pillow” I’m thinking some where else 😡
Joan and Randall, the pillow comment made me think of Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, in the reign of Elizabeth I. When asked about his attempts to marry Mary, Queen of Scots, he said he would never want to put his head on her pillow. Turned out he still did and then lost his head to the executioner. I would just like Loose Cannon to lose her judgeship and then be disbarred.
I agree about her being permanently removed from the bench, Michele, but I'm against disbarment... only because I'd break out the popcorn to see her lose case after case because she doesn't know the law or how to deal with evidence.
That would be terrible for her unwitting clients, so no, disbar her.
Where the sun don’t shine?
😂😂🤣
No, she is on the payroll, one way or another. Maybe a SC seat down the line.
Jeri, please, I have not finished my am coffee, but glad i have not started my breakfast. My reaction to that idea is gag me.
I'm with you, Michele. Heading for cup number 2 right now. Glad that nothing more is on board.
I'm in the middle of moving, Michele, with painters in the place I'm leaving (which entails keeping la perrita shut up in my office). I'm just downing coffee #3, and have yet to go arrange internet service for the new place. It's hard enough in English, but I'm terrified of trying to get it right in Spanish! Wish me caffeinated luck.
There was ink that she was promised s spot on the short list for SCOTUS. Was that ever confirmed? Could it be?
Bite your tongue, Marge, and don't give them any ideas.
Never saw that but some machinations in the works. overworked doesn't explain it.
I've been thinking the same thing about Cannon for some time - she wants to be removed from the case. More and more I believe that wiser heads on the 11th Circuit don't want to remove her, because whatever verdict is reached will be appealed and if the verdict favors tRump then her clear expressions of bias in this trial will make it far harder for tRump to prevail before a higher court.
And I'm becoming less concerned about the trials being pushed back after the election. Lazy pundits and scaremongers have been saying for months that if Trump wins in November he can just wave his magic mushroom and make all these prosecutions disappear.
1) He can't make Georgia disappear, nor any of the other state fake elector cases still being developed in which tRump is a presently-unindicted co-conspirator.
2) tRump may believe he can slow the roll of the DOJ on the federal criminal cases, but he can't make the extensive case fact records, and the grand jury indictments handed down on the basis of these facts, just disappear.
3) Not to jinx anything but increasingly it looks to me that tRump and the GOP can't win in 2024 unless they actually manage to pull off election fraud on a scale far more massive than what they falsely accused Democrats of in 2020. They've shown us their playbook. In their arrogant stupidity, they've actually written it down. They're explicitly saying "this is what we're going to do." And it seems they actually believe that the majority in this country are just going to let them get away with it
Doubt it
Probably would have recused herself if that were the case.
Last night, Neal Katyal said on MSNBC that there aren't many options that Jack Smith has to either compel her to act, or to have her removed for slow-walking the case. He is the former acting assistant Solicitor General. He said that the Dept of Justice is loath to replace judges, and expressed dismay that she's chosen to further delay the trial.
However, on the plus side, Katyal said that this opens a spot for Defendant donny's Jan 6 trial, which he believes is still possible to conduct before the election.
Pray this be so!!
Depends on SCOTUS doing the right things, Doug, i.e., finding against the all of the immunity argument and ruling before this session ends. From the tenor of their questions, they seem to be leaning toward defining personal vs official acts and sending the matters back to Chutkin to sort out. Even as efficient as she is, that could delay the start of her trial. And SCOTUS might choose to hold their ruling over to the next session. I wouldn't put it past Roberts.
The not so Supremes need to rule first tho
I think Neal is smoking something WRT the 1/6 trial. The Supreme Court has made it pretty clear (the right wing of it) that they do not want to see this trial go forth before the election. Who knows how long they sit on this latest ruling, and who know what delays that ruling, when it comes, will cause.
We shall see, but (and I'm not a lawyer or legal scholars, but follow several who are, so take this with a grain of salt) I suspect that a ruling somewhat splitting the baby will be issued before the end of this SCOTUS session, and Jack Smith will be able to proceed.
Quite obviously she is a Trumper. Therefore, she should never have taken the case and has amply displayed why she should be disbarred.
Aileen Cannon should be impeached and removed from the bench.
We will get to that…😉
Even apart from her bias, she has proven herself to be ignorant of important laws and the proper conduct of a trial. She also appears incompetent in reading and responding to critical docs, like motions and briefs. She's a fucking disaster and ought to be removed from the bench permanently, not just from joyboy's case.
Why should these Trump people adhere to any rule or law. They believe they are untouchable. And they are convinced that WHEN Trump returns to the White House, he will pardon all his supporters.
And that he would…the autocratic playbook has been and still currently is on display…don’t stand next to a window on the 5th floor in Russia just 1 needs mentioned) if you ‘disapprove’ . ‘You’re Fired’ was a clear indicator here..the roll changes ad infinitum were bold print clues.
We really need to remember how important Mitch McConnell has been in turning the courts into a wholly owned subsidiary if the RNC. His refusal to let any of Obama's nominees come to a vote so that a theoretical republican successor stack the courts as the Republicans saw fit is on him, not on Trump.
Well, damn his eyes, Rich, and his decaying mind. At least Obama managed to get Sotomayor and Kagan onto the high bench.
Lewis your anger is understandable. But don't condemn all historians. We are more than a racist nation, the word is xenophobic. A fear of strangers not like "us". Florida is trying to disenfranchise Chinese. How American Back people like Tim Scott could align themself with trump is very puzzling. The coming election frightens me also. How can so many people be oblivious to the dangers that trump is openly revealing is what is most disturbing. It can not be ignorance but raw hatred.
Mr. Baum, I do not condemn all...try 99%. Exception, Historian Tim Snyder. BUT it is COLOR... it is HAIR... it is RACE... and we Americans are daft... as for Dear Heather... and Boston College... read WHITE on WHITE, AFRAID, DENIAL, and BLIND.
No need to dis Heather while truth telling. It does feel like we are sleepwalking to Armageddon
I think you meant this house, believe it or not, listed on Zillow at
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1600-Pennsylvania-Ave-NW-Washington-DC-20500/84074482_zpid/
I'm sure the deleted comment innocently listed the address of the Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines instead of the White House by mistake, but now that I found the White House listed in Zillow, it inspires consideration of it being for sale.
We are the real owners, though, and are supposed to have a fair choice in, at least, who the tenants are .
We do. We'll make that choice on November 5th.
Zillow often shows inaccurate information. In this listing, their claim that the property is not for sale is clearly wrong, and has been for some years.
HAHAHA! It's just down the road from me.
I do agree about the reaction of a lot of people to having Obama in the White House. T just made it a sign of 'proud to be not-woke' and to say it out loud.
It seems to me that the improprieties of this arrangement go well beyond appearances. Were it only hypothetical it would be a joke.
There is no longer any denying the forest from the trees , on so many avenues/paths. The American Dream is done , few see the puzzle coming together/connections weak/dancing all around the corpse. John Stewart’s cry comes closest to nailing it. The circus of traitors insidiously beat the last vestige rhetorically. Cannon is the canary.
Metaphors?
A change of unequalled challenge is upon the World. There are no winners, only survivors on the last boat.
We are truly all in this together, Joyce, the visionary…. correctly.
Eloquent writing, laid out meticulously, shouted the warning well in some circles, lies and ridicule in others, designed from histories downfalls, the playbook of the coal mine or the cold mind counted and calculated .
Mom Nature may have the last laugh.
I’m voting 💙
I think the overturning of Roe was also a canary (can we have 2?). I think it pointed us right back to the Declaration which says all men are created equal. Put us women right back in our place to be only protected as property, not as human beings. We would be better off arguing our property rights were violated with the overturning of Roe because that’s how we were regarded when the Declaration was penned…as property.
Well stated! As was the way there were lots of canaries, I’m sure the blue 💙 will be the popular vote by far…but that doesn’t mean a win anymore !
Lot of historical canaries going way back, including slaves owned by presidents.
No need for two, Mary Ellen. The first one choked to death on Dobbs.
And property is that over which you have control. You get to eat YOUR sandwich. You get to drive YOUR car. The idea that people can be property is tyrannical. The concept of universal equality means that no person can be property. We have rights and responsibilities, but are subject to no autocratic whim. The tension between those who would be masters and those they would regard as slaves is as old as humanity.
It also seems to me that there is strong tie-in to notions of supremacy, racial, religious, gender, financial, etc. that posits narcissistic privilege over others. That's the tragic flaw that could bring down our species. No? Noem felt justified in killing an adolescent dog that failed to acknowledge her presumed superiority. For centuries, those impulses have left a wake of blood.
Realty always has the last word, and it's not like we have had no opportunities to learn of where tyranny leads. Sufficient votes for sanity can stop the spread of madness.
Oh I so hope 🙏🤞
It is not a joke and when this goon is president he will you this info for his own power. Poor pitiful America. What a great idea it was
"It is not a joke and when this goon is president he will you this info for his own power. Poor pitiful America. What a great idea it was"
The odd 'typos' and degrading sentiment make this comment suspect. But on face value. The United States of America was a great idea. And overall it has proven a great form of government. A democratic republic founded on a declaration of equality and constituted by coming to consensus through reasoned debate of empirical evidence. Enduringly making progress towards fulfilling these aspirations. Repurposing it as a corporate clerical fascist state, a la the GOP is a very bad idea. As shown by Russia.
America is STILL a great idea, and a great Country! Use your towels to dry off after a bath or shower - not to throw-in on the playing field or floor!
Peter, beautifully expressed. Our democracy is not Past Tense! (Capital Letters for emphasis!)
I'm not throwing in the towel, Peter, and neither should any of us. Totalitarianism depends on us being disheartened. Courage, mes braves, et aux barricades.
Indeed! Be courageous and brave!
He’ll never be elected President again.
"He’ll never be elected President again."
If you mean Trump, then I wouldn't bet on him never being elected again. But I'm certainly working to keep Trump from being elected again. By those on the right and the left.
lin: I am certainly no seer,
it was just my fervent refrain….
Mine too.
In 2016 everyone was saying "He can't win." From field work, by early Summer, I was certain that he would win. So it inordinately worries me when people say that - I miss any nuance.
Laurie, sometime ago I came across an interesting post about Judge Cannon. I had a very dim view of her actions to date and wondered if she were partisan. This piece added some nuance to the situation and made me step back from my initial assessment…seems things truly are more complicated than they seem on the surface. Eventually I hope the truth will be revealed and justice will prevail. See the link here: https://davidlat.substack.com/p/clerking-for-judge-aileen-cannon-why-clerks-quit
Barbara, kind of you to be so non-judgemental, but Lat is full caca. He is playing 'intellectual Zamboni' for the indefensible Cannon. (Note he was VP Federalist Society at Yale, grew up as neighbor of Nixon). Cannon isn't stupid, she is just incredibly biased for Trump. Her rulings on co-defendants show no such sympathy. Her rulings are absurd. ABSURD! She takes every opportunity to bad mouth Jack Smith even when she needs to reverse herself because her previous ruling is soooo egregiously wrong. Listen to podcast JACK, by former FBI Director McCabe, for better info.
Opps, my comment posted twice (why?) and when I tried to delete just one, they both disappeared. Oh well. So shall try again.
Basically I commented that I realized this was a one-and-only article of its kind—delving into her background, etc. & want to be open to various opinions & not siloed into like-think. That said, it will be interesting how this plays out….is it more to her inexperience or, perhaps, partisan views coloring her decisions? I dunno, but it’s not going well in any case…my focus is on that old adage “justice delayed is justice denied”. She may end up being a footnote in history books….
As a peon in the peanut gallery and viewing from far away, anyone who watched 6Jan live with horror and deep dismay knows Trump is a sleazy Putin puppet who should be stripped of his citizenship and deported permanently. This case should be the deciding factor in that event. This case will separate the men from the boys as far as lawyers go, and may make the difference between the USA's demise or survival as a democracy
I agree with you, Barbara, that it's a good thing to review alternate points of view. Nonetheless, regardless of how overworked and/or inexperienced Cannon may be, her opinions and rulings in both cases have been way off mark. It doesn't matter to me if her problem is bias, stress, or incompetence; she ought to be taken off this current case and, imho, removed from the bench permanently. Without scolding or prejudice, but outta there.
Lauren, I was recently listing to NPR whilst driving on errands & the subject matter was “management” positions. My takeaway (and that I have experienced in my working life) some folks really DO have the chops to do it well, and others, as the Peter Principle posits, rise to the level of their incompetency. She sure does seem way way way over her head & for that I have some sympathy. IF she realizes this, IMHO, she should seek wise counsel on how to step up or to step away, unless personal hubris is playing a role. Some folks are thrown in the deep end unprepared (think Zelensky) and rise to, even surpass, the occasion….others, like TFFG, it just amplifies their lack of fitness (or, indeed, profound harm) for the role.
And thank you for your reference to the podcast!
love that podcast!!
Thanks, Barbara. If nothing else, the author is trying to put the humanity back in Cannon, a hard sell for many, to be sure. Being on the outside of it, I have a hard time seeing the complexity that the author is trying to convey this case is. How hard could it be to determine that boxes and boxes of documents that belong to the National Archives are instead in someone's bathroom?
Morning, Lynell. I agree that this should be a real open and shut case: You had 'em and weren't supposed to. Period.
Cases are usually tried (at least at my level of expertise) where the crime took place, in this case, Washington, D.C. However, the crime of possession of stolen property took place in Florida. I do not understand the nuance of filing in Florida rather than D.C. I can only assume that there is one.
Lastly, the opinion I have of Judge Cannon is something that I'd let loose with on TAFM, but not here. Suffice to say that lack of knowledge, lack of qualifications, lack of judicial temperament, and lack of judicial experience are paramount in my opinion.
Excellent rejoinder, Ally. Nothing more for me to say except to wish you a hearty morning!
We all saw it, and anybody who has had clearances knows the rules. But rules to chump are just annoyances
I am still of the opinion that the documents case is the most important of them all. The damage to our national security to give the trump family more money and bolster trumps image of himself is the worst thing imaginable. I feel
Certain some of them have been sold and some still in hiding! This person and his gang of traitors should be jailed for life, every last one of them. Including the judge!
Susan, it is also appalling to hear accounts (from the person he spoke to!!) of what he would discuss with random folks…seems to me as a way to “puff up” his importance and impress them…so immature. Seems to me the whole documents case is a no-brainer & he was caught red-handed & flat footed….or maybe bone spurs were involved.
It's pretty cut and dried, as you say, Lynell. I'm personally more concerned that Cannon doesn't seem to know enough pertinent law or proper trial procedure to be at this particular helm. I wish she'd realized it herself and recused, but she didn't, and none of us know why. For that huge misjudgment on her part, I say take her off the bench forever.
Basically, she's an ignorant, incompetent bimbo.
Please don't down talk about bimbo's! She is worser than that! For shame!
As always, TC, you gave me reason to laugh this morning. Thanks for that.
Living proof that one can be simultaneously corrupt and incompetent. Cannon for Disbarment 2025!
TCinLA, I’m not a fan of Judge Cannon and I agree with your general reaction. However, I do not appreciate your reference to her using a slur based on her gender (bimbo). Wouldn’t your opinion of her work as a judge be the same if she was male? By referring to her as a bimbo you imply otherwise. How would you refer to her if she were male?
You've never met male bimbos? I have, many times here in Okeefenokee West.
Thanks for the clarification
An interesting article, Barbara. Thanks for the link. Given the connections Judge Cannon has to right-wing funders and causes, I wonder if some of the problems in her office reflect her desire to please those folks, so she must come up with more reasons to delay the actual trial. Perhaps her clerks are doing lots of case history research to that end, rather than actually dealing with the paperwork and evidence in the Trump case itself. If she's truly overwhelmed by the demands of this case, I imagine that other judges would be able to appropriately mentor/guide her as needed, assuming that's allowed. She doesn't seem to be concerned about the damage she's causing to her own reputation.
Personally, I think it's pretty clear that she's gambling on a Trump re-election to save her butt and, possibly as a reward for the delay, an appointment to the Supreme Court. After all, everything IS transactional in Trumpworld.
Yeah, Laurie, I wondered how she is reflecting on all of this, and wondering if an unseen hand (influence from ???) is affecting her. Hopefully, someday, all will be revealed and she will take her place as a footnote to history.
Barbara, somehow I can't picture her reflecting on the rule of law or the moral obligations of a judge. She might be reflecting on her future and must know that if she tires of being a judge, she'll have a good gig on Fox or other right-wing media, or teaching at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University.
I'm 78 now, so I'd love to come back in about 30-40 years to see what happens re: Trump, American populism, the embrace of authoritarianism, etc. - and to see what historians have to say about this wild, scary, unreal period.
LOL…Laurie…I’ve often said the only reason I want to live forever is to find out how it all turns out! [and that applies to many issues that would take us to Earth’s end in some 5 billion years, give or take a day or so….think I’d be WAY too tired to hang on that long!]
Oh my gosh, Barbara, imagine if George Washington or Ben Franklin or Jane Austen or Elizabeth I could drop in now. I wonder what they'd say about us and the world.
Just my two cents--I feel like this same 25-35% of the population that has always been with us--slavers, KKK, Nazis, racists, authoritarians, MAGA--I don't think this era we're in is particularly unusual. We're just more aware of them, because our news comes from more heterogeneous sources.
And more propaganda that competes favorably in some quarters
I refer to them as the folks who wonder where the sun goes at night.
They seem also to be the mindlessly religious, in that they've never read the book.
"slavers, KKK, Nazis, racists, authoritarians, MAGA"
Please include Nation of Islam leaders Elijah Muhammad and Louis Farrakhan who amplified the antisemitism of the Christian Gospels and whose bigotry against White people is the ideological flip side of KKK bigotry against Black people. (Ideological, although obviously without the practical impact.) Although, Farrakhan is a dominant Black leader and his antisemitism has seeped into Left wing activism. And has now tragically shifted the focus on recent protests - away from the abuses of the Netanyahu regime onto the antisemitism of a vehement minority of the protestors.
I’m old but I’ve seen enough
The hands are not unseen. They are Charles Koch's, Leonard Leo's, the foreigner Elon Musk, the men, always men,behind the investment banks, the Russian oligarchs. The hands are myriad. They play the puppet strings while we just want to mow our lawns, play with our kids, and maybe buy an electric vehicle so the planet doesn't roast.
I caught part of an MSNBC show last weekend, Ayman’s, where he was interviewing someone in the financial world, I believe, who when asked who he would be voting for (this after some laughing over Trump’s antics) said Trump. Why? Because STOCKHOLDERS are the most important people and them keeping their money is the most important issue. I have been appalled ever since, even though I know many who vote their portfolios and not their love of country. To just say that out loud and for the interviewer, on a network I like, not to challenge him but seem amused left me infuriated. I’ve thought about it these past few days. How do we get to these people who have placed what they have over what the nation needs?
Pretty much, Jen.
She sees rewards, pardons, as do all chump followers. My view anyway.
Not only her reputation, but more importantly, the country
Barbara, this was fascinating. Thank you. I wish more people would encourage us to be less one dimensional. Cannon is more than an obstacle to justice.
Based on this author's research, she is quite bright and under other circumstances could be a fine judge and mentor of clerks. But it appears she is way over her head. And as a result, accountability for one of the most obvious and most egregious acts by an American president is being bogged down.
Doesn't Cannon appreciate the monstrosity of the deed in question? Doesn't she get what a traitorous act the theft of documents represents? Of course she does. If she is so smart, she must. Therefore, she is a puppet or a member of the extremist MAGA right.
By delaying the trial, she is indeed an obstacle to justice and therefore, essentially, an accessory to the crime.
I applaud learning that she is a more complex person than portrayed. I actually have some sympathy for her plight. But if she were to act responsibly, she would make one of two choices NOW. Set a court date ASAP for well before the election. Or step back from the case - send her clerks with all their developed research to the next judge.
Justice delayed is justice denied. Enough!
If only she could have asked for help. But at this stage in her career, that would stain her reputation for years. There is no forgiveness or empathy for people whose competence is overwhelmed by logistical and emotional distress.
I think she's getting *lots* of help.
Barbara, Thank You for the link to David Lat's article.
TFFG ruins everything he touches. He has cast a pall on our legal system. Now we have been retrained to doubt everything that comes out of our courts. I am skeptical about everything to some degree anyway, so it doesn't bother me that David Lat might be spinning his own bias in his writing. But after reading his story about Judge Cannon's struggles with her clerks, and her thinking like an appellate judge when she needs to be thinking like a trial judge, etc, I find that I prefer that version, instead of casting her as a partisan hack.
I hate the idea that she is merely a partisan hack.
Similarly, I hate the idea that several members of the US Supreme Court will probably never be able to write a soaring opinion that advances the cause of justice well into the distant future. I wish there were some way that we could all work together to persuade Chief Justice Roberts to get in touch with his conscience, and begin to attempt to restore the dignity of the Court. And does Judge Cannon need more resources from DoJ, or whoever, to help with her workload on such an important case?
As I wrote earlier today, the case of the mishandled classified documents is too important to be allowed to fall by the wayside.
David, I believe that David Lat has possibly damaged his back by twisting himself into a pretzel to defend Cannon. What I see is yet another person seduced by the power around 45. She could have recused herself, but chose to stay on, not realizing how difficult it would be to try a widely publicized trial with a defendant whose business model is “never pay what is owed” and “delay until your opponent is broken and you never have to pay the full price”. A judge used to dealing with criminal sociopaths would have recognized the tactics; Cannon seems to have fallen for them. Jack Smith should appeal to the Appeals Court and they should rescue her before she drowns and rescue the American people from her bad decisions. This isn’t a hypothetical case in moot court; this is a fight for accountability to prove that this a nation of laws.
I like your assessment here, Mary. This isn't a hypothetical, it is the first of its kind and will have lasting impact on the future of this country.
Once you are in Trump’s pocket (or Putin’s) there is no safe way out. But you might not know that until it’s too late. It doesn’t matter how smart you are or the school you graduated from or even if you can barely read at all, you know that he can,and will, reach in and squash you like a bug if you fail to praise him.
Terribly Faustian, and yet I have no sympathy. The moral of that story is that we should have NO truck with the devil... he's a liar and a cheat and will always find a way to make you regret your deal just before you roast in hell forever.
David H: I think it’s possible to think that both are true - she’s in over her head and she’s biased. These two “explanations “ aren’t mutually exclusive. I reacted to Lat as you did. As someone who remembers how it feels to face a bigger project than I could then handle competently…. And BTW, I don’t know anyone who could decline or recuse an assignment based on work overload.
All the same. Marge, she could recuse herself based on not having the experience to hear this case correctly. And agreed that she may also be biased.
While I don't think this article excuses Judge Cannon's decisions....it does share an overview of her issues. Right or wrong. Of course her chaotic management of her cases...shows her inexperience...and poor management. Not everyone manages work properly....or well. Unfortunately, her mismanagement looks pro-Trump....and probably defaults to a pro-Trump basis.
Thank you — interesting insight to judges and clerks.
Thanks for the link. It does help to know the behind the scenes issues. It's sad that the pressure of being assigned the documents case did so much damage to her as a manager and that she's now got staff who lack the experience -- and possibly the clearance -- to be of real service to her and to justice.
Barbara, David, Emily and MisTBlu, "I came across an interesting post about Judge Cannon. I had a very dim view of her actions to date and wondered if she were partisan. This piece added some nuance to the situation and made me step back from my initial assessment…seems things truly are more complicated than they seem on the surface."
Perhaps the best thing to emerge from getting a look behind the scenes does 2 things: 1) to restore some semblance of respect for a legal system and those on whom we rely to make it work which, on the whole, has served us relatively well through the past 2 centuries despite the deviance evident in a small minority of those judges;
2) the look behind the scenes helps remind us that "the truth" is ALWAYS more complicated than the headlines and summary judgments we make which allow us to proceed without having to think our way through the complexity or to simultaneously hold two different feelings about the same issue - a very human experience!
With absolute respect for the nuances of what is preventing Cannon from managing her trial correctly, or even adequately, the fact remains that she isn't.
I don't need to bad-mouth the woman or the judge, I just want to see justice done, and if she can't deliver for any reason or set of reasons, she should step down. A well-educated, intelligent, 40 year old person should have the self-awareness to know when s/he's failing at an important task and get help or get off it.
Barbara,
Many thanks. I was judging the scheiße out of that judge. Nice to read a perspective that tempers the reaction. Thank you for that.
Ned.
Barbara, I don't have quite the same take as you after reading this article by Lat. He seems to say that she's inexperienced (though smart), is overwhelmed by it all, and leans toward the Defendant in this case.
She has slow-walked bringing this case to trial, which is now delayed without a date. Neal Katyal made the point last night on MSNBC that the docs case isn't complicated. As comparison, he said that Sam Banks-Friedman, the bit coin fraud, was charged in Nov '22 and was found guilty in Aug '23, in a much more complex case.
Putting Lat's opinions together, it leads to my conclusion that Cannon is over her head and incompetent due to inexperience, with a strong bias for the Defendant. She should have recused herself, given her situation in general.
Meanwhile, national security remains at risk due to the theft of documents, and who knows how many classified docs yet are unaccounted for?
I'm going to make a comparison here between Attorney General Merrick Garland and Judge Aileen Cannon: Garland is an experienced Judge now having the role of the nation's top prosecuting attorney, a role he filled well at the national level. Cannon is young lacks experience, and is a former appellate judge now serving as a district trial judge. Both of these individuals may well be great people, and have experience and/or temperament to do these jobs, but each are ill-suited for their current roles.
Mr. Garland still thinks too much like a judge, and lacks the prosecutorial fire that let him successfully prosecute the Murrah Building attack. He needed to have that same prosecutorial fire to address the Insurrection of January 6, 2021 rather than the slow, methodical approach he has taken thus far. Judge Cannon has almost no trial experience, and is responsible for handling the first case ever of a former president who stole classified documents and stored some of them in a bathroom off of a common access area to a swimming pool at a golf resort. She may be giving more weight to what she has 2 previous years experience with (Appellate Judge) than what is normal for a trial judge, but that does not address her obvious bias.
Good comparison, Ally. I'm withholding judgment on Garland even though his molasses in January approach to his role is interfering badly with the US getting back on track post-TFG and post-Covid (although both are still in our air supply). I get the justice delayed is justice denied thing, and still if he nails them all firmly and finally at the end of his plod, I'll be happy. Meanwhile, whether Garland is temperamentally unsuited to be top cop, or if he's just bad at it, it's up to us to keep our democracy. No heroes coming to the rescue, just voters.
Same for Cannon - who she is in all her complexity and why she's screwing up her trial aren't important except as thought exercise. What is salient is that she is screwing it up. The difference is that we have no power to vote her out - maybe just endless postcards to the 11th Circuit to get her off the case for cause. We can deconstruct later at leisure.
Ally, you expressed so well what I’ve been thinking for months!
It’s a shame about Garland; I believe that he would have been lauded as a great Supreme Court justice. Instead, his choice to examine every case from all sides and from every possible permutation has hogtied him in a job that requires action, not deliberation.
Recovering lawyer here. Thank you for the article, Barbara.
Clerking for a federal court judge is a plum, reserved for the very best newly-trained lawyers. Most judges are demanding, because adjudication is demanding. Any court case involves at a minimum an enormous amount of time and personal (I'd say "psychic", or "spiritual", but those seem too crunchy granola) investment by the litigants, to say nothing of the expense, all of which will inevitably affect all their futures in one way or another. In a case involving national security, it also requires an enormous investment of time and effort on the part of the lawyers and judiciary as well. No wonder this inept, inexperienced judge has had trouble keeping or even hiring clerks; the atmosphere in Chambers must be deadly. Clerking for Cannon would besmirch anyone's reputation and resume, unless they just want to go to work for Kacsmaryk, of course. And because of her ineptitude in this specific case and the effects on her chambers of that ineptitude, to say nothing of her bias, the American people are denied the effective and timely prosecution of a person who is an obvious threat to national security.
Thanks, Lynn, for your “inside” perspective. She sure is making a name for herself and not in a good way unless, perhaps, Project 2025 comes to pass IF that’s her schtick. Can’t really be in another’s head and can only base opinions on one’s words and deeds….IMHO she’s falling short especially for such a critical once-in-a-lifetime (or, so far, a nation’s) case. Like others, perhaps she shall one day write a tell-all book and we can find out, you know, when her words/actions no longer could have any impact.
Seems more confusing than clarifying
I'm not a lawyer but suspect that disbarring a sitting judge in the middle of hearing one of the most consequential cases in US history would be, for all intents and purposes, impossible. And even if it weren't, the process would likely not even begin until the trial in question had concluded and would surely take until long after the November election to complete. Consider, for example, how long Eastman's disbarment is taking -- years -- and even now his disbarment is actually a temporary license suspension, and the wrangling goes on and on.
More to the point is the issue of getting relief from the 11th Circuit, perhaps in the form of a writ of mandamus, or perhaps as an order to recuse. As has been pointed out elsewhere (see the Joyce Vance column HCR cites today, including the comments), Judge Cannon in her machinations and maneuverings has cleverly avoided doing anything appealable, leaving Smith stymied no matter how bizarre Cannon's moves (or failures to move) have been and how blatant her pro-Trump bias appears to be.
That has led in turn to conversation about whether Cannon, who has shown herself to be inexperienced as a judge if not outright incompetent, is receiving lots of coaching from somewhere, holding her hand as she takes the steps needed to ensure the trial won't happen before the election.
If Cannon is getting coaching, which one can't help but suspect, you can bet it ain't coming from the ACLU. :-)
Must be recused from the case! Period.
Fernanda, this case will never see the light of day. Jack Smith needs to pack his bags and move on.
Judge Cannon is a member of the Federal Judiciary, and as such is subject to the ethics rules that are in place. The recent exposure of her failure to report a luxury resort trip appropriately should have some merit in assessing her fitness.
Cannon herself should be indicted for obstruction of justice.
You Fight the law and the law Wins. No longer a given. Chump has stymied the law at every turn.
I’m wondering if she doesn’t see the coaching (which I also suspect she is getting from the Right) as the only lifeline she’s got. And if she’s overworked and her clerks aren’t up to speed, delay would seem like the only way to catch up. Not to mention it keeps the MAGAs happy.
I doubt this is all a simple good vs evil situation.
Also not a lawyer, pts, but I don't see why the 11th Circuit can't pull her off the case for the counter-legal rulings she's made. I'll go read the Vance article, and maybe then I'll see what I'm missing.
A good question that's way above my pay grade; I don't know for sure but don't think an appeals court can act sua sponte (if that's the correct use of that term), that is, without having received some sort of formal request or appeal. Would be great to hear from a qualified lawyer on this, and also on how Jack Smith might go about finding out whether or how Judge Cannon may have been improperly advised.
I think su esponte is correct, pts, but what do I know of Latin or law?
Disbarment requires a higher burden of proof, but I’d be filing a motion to remove Judge Cannon from Trump’s case.e
Loose cannon is there only because of the republican leadership in the senate.
Indeed....
I wonder what Allen Weisselberg thinks of all this "getting away with murder"
For all the noise from Trump about the corrupt justice dept, Cannon’s the one who should be looked at for corruptibility.
This what I was going to say. Who do we need to put pressure on? This judge needs to be removed!
Is impeach and removal possible?