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 …
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.
How about Abraham Lincoln showing up? He might say, "I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right. But part with him when he goes wrong."
Or. "You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."
Or, "The people of these United States are the rightful masters of both Congresses and courts. Not to overthrow the constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the constitution."
Compare these words of wisdom to Trump's "famous" quote.
"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK? It's, like, incredible."
What's even MORE incredible to me are his followers whose votes he wouldn't lose.
That third quotation is perfect. It should be used now in candidate’s speeches ( properly attributed ) to remind voters what the importance of voting is all about.
Thanks for the Lincoln quotes, Pam. Maybe Lincoln had more patience dealing with obstinate wrong-headedness from his experiences with a bi-polar partner. Having been in that position I can tell you it is uber arduous.
Lauren, I didn't know Mary Todd suffered from bi-polar disorder.
I understand arduous. My father had it, my brother has it, and my son has a strain of it. He has struggled to find the right medications, but seems to be doing well now.
Yes, that is an exhausting mental illness for the person who has it and their family and friends.
Whatever experiences Lincoln had which gave him patience in dealing with obstinate people, those experiences helped him become such a wise and wonderful person and president.
I've often found myself thinking, "What is it we're doing NOW that will look positively abominable to the populace 100 years from now?" That line of thought was usually reserved for equal rights and medical issues, but now it's cozied right up to how politics plays in the courts.
I've been thinking about how we'll look to future people, Pat. In my review of the chatter about Tim Scott as a potential pick for VP (not just here, but everywhere in the media), I am coming to the conclusion that we'll all look like racists. His ethnicity ought not to be any part of how we evaluate his qualification to be first in line for the oval, should TFG win and then become incapacitated.
One of the things I liked best about 'The Handmaid's Tale' book is that it's a reconstruction of fragments a future society found and used to try to make sense of our present.
Pat, I’ve wondered how we view “history” might be changed if we could meet and learn from the actual players….as history “morphs” with the telling, especially WHO is doing the telling. I think about how many folks don’t know even recent events in our nation’s history, stories that aren’t taught in history classes. With the advent of the increasing ability for regular folks to chronicle, via technology, what is happening in the moment (acknowledging the “truth” can often depend on if the capture of an incident is a “tight shot” vs a “long shot”). Imagine if, say, in the way way way back those in the past had a way to capture real time documentation—how we might reframe religions, nations forming…the thought blows my mind!
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.
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.
How about Abraham Lincoln showing up? He might say, "I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right. But part with him when he goes wrong."
Or. "You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."
Or, "The people of these United States are the rightful masters of both Congresses and courts. Not to overthrow the constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the constitution."
Compare these words of wisdom to Trump's "famous" quote.
"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK? It's, like, incredible."
What's even MORE incredible to me are his followers whose votes he wouldn't lose.
That third quotation is perfect. It should be used now in candidate’s speeches ( properly attributed ) to remind voters what the importance of voting is all about.
Thanks for the Lincoln quotes, Pam. Maybe Lincoln had more patience dealing with obstinate wrong-headedness from his experiences with a bi-polar partner. Having been in that position I can tell you it is uber arduous.
Lauren, I didn't know Mary Todd suffered from bi-polar disorder.
I understand arduous. My father had it, my brother has it, and my son has a strain of it. He has struggled to find the right medications, but seems to be doing well now.
Yes, that is an exhausting mental illness for the person who has it and their family and friends.
Whatever experiences Lincoln had which gave him patience in dealing with obstinate people, those experiences helped him become such a wise and wonderful person and president.
Love this conversation, ladies!
I've often found myself thinking, "What is it we're doing NOW that will look positively abominable to the populace 100 years from now?" That line of thought was usually reserved for equal rights and medical issues, but now it's cozied right up to how politics plays in the courts.
I've been thinking about how we'll look to future people, Pat. In my review of the chatter about Tim Scott as a potential pick for VP (not just here, but everywhere in the media), I am coming to the conclusion that we'll all look like racists. His ethnicity ought not to be any part of how we evaluate his qualification to be first in line for the oval, should TFG win and then become incapacitated.
One of the things I liked best about 'The Handmaid's Tale' book is that it's a reconstruction of fragments a future society found and used to try to make sense of our present.
Lauren, may I recommend a thought-experiment novel by Naomi Aldermann “The Power”: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/29751398 (also recommend her recent book “The Future”)
Thank you, Barbara. Once I'm settled into my new place I'll need a good read or two.
Pat, I’ve wondered how we view “history” might be changed if we could meet and learn from the actual players….as history “morphs” with the telling, especially WHO is doing the telling. I think about how many folks don’t know even recent events in our nation’s history, stories that aren’t taught in history classes. With the advent of the increasing ability for regular folks to chronicle, via technology, what is happening in the moment (acknowledging the “truth” can often depend on if the capture of an incident is a “tight shot” vs a “long shot”). Imagine if, say, in the way way way back those in the past had a way to capture real time documentation—how we might reframe religions, nations forming…the thought blows my mind!
👍 Now that would be interesting, eh?
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