A legal expert has sharply criticized Judge Aileen Cannon in her handling of Donald Trump‘s classified documents case, calling her “unprofessional” in the way she has addressed the prosecution.
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told news and opinion site Salon that special counsel Jack Smith‘s team was “dealing with a judge who is unlike any other judge.”
“There’s nothing that has crossed the line, in my opinion,” Rahmani said. “And if anything, the judge herself has been unprofessional and kind of criticizing the prosecution in a way that, again, most of the judges would not.”
The comments come after Judge Cannon’s rebuke of Smith’s prosecution team on Monday, telling prosecutor David Harbach “I don’t appreciate your tone.” She said that she would “appreciate decorum at all times” and said, “If you aren’t able to do that, I’m sure one of your colleagues can take up arguing this motion.”
Harbach later apologized to Cannon for being “unprofessional” during the hearing.
Rahmani said any decision Cannon might make to remove Harbach from the case would likely be overturned on appeal, and added that judges need “to be a little more thick-skinned.”
“She is entertaining some ridiculous arguments,” Rahmani said, echoing previous criticism of Cannon. “She’s allowed outsiders who really have nothing to do with the case, to submit briefs and to argue. No judge would allow that.”
The ex-prosecutor also said the judge’s indifference to the length of proceedings was causing “a lot of frustration.”
Cannon’s rebuke of Harbach on Monday occurred while Smith’s team was seeking a gag-order on former president Trump to prevent him from endangering law enforcement officials with false public statements.
The prosecution made the request after Trump falsely declared that President Joe Biden ordered the FBI to use “deadly force” during their search of Mar-a-Lago for sensitive materials in August 2022. Trump claimed in a fundraising email that this meant the FBI and the Biden administration was “locked & loaded ready to take me out.”
Trump has been charged in Florida with 40 felony counts related to claims he improperly held on to classified documents after leaving the White House in January 2021 and obstructed efforts to return them to the relevant federal authorities. The former president, and presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denies any wrongdoing.
Judge Cannon indefinitely postponed the trial in May pending resolution of the extensive pretrial litigation which remains unresolved, all but ensuring the case will not be heard before the election in November.
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