Former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance has questioned U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon for issuing orders in Donald Trump‘s classified documents case when the case has been closed since July 2024.
In her Civil Discourse Substack, Vance said, “The strangest thing about this entire proceeding is that Judge Cannon continues to issue orders when there is no case pending in front of her. That’s not how a court’s jurisdiction is supposed to work.”
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Justice, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and Trump’s transition team via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Following Trump’s election victory in November, the DOJ said it would wind down its investigations into his alleged criminal behavior. The first case, which Cannon oversaw, related to Trump’s alleged hoarding of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, and the second related to his alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 election results.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who oversaw the investigations, resigned last week.
Trump has been seeking to block the release of Smith’s investigative report, with his lawyers arguing it would illegally interfere with his presidential transition. The DOJ has been fighting to get a section of the report made public before Trump takes office because most pundits believe he won’t allow the release of the report once he’s in charge.
What To Know
Cannon dismissed the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case against Trump in July 2024 after ruling that Smith’s appointment was unlawful.
Despite the case being closed, Cannon issued an injunction on January 7, 2025, temporarily blocking the DOJ from releasing the portion of Smith’s report, which relates to the January 6 case, because it might contain crossover information relating to the classified documents case.
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals partially overturned Cannon’s order last week, denying Trump’s request to block the report but leaving Cannon’s injunction in place for three days. The injunction has now expired.
In her blog post, Vance criticized Cannon for contributing to blocking the report’s release, writing that not releasing it “would be a travesty.”
“One of the important purposes of the criminal justice system is to get at the truth of matters. Here, much remains unknown,” she wrote.
What People Are Saying
Joyce Vance, legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney, on Substack: “The strangest thing about this entire proceeding is that Judge Cannon continues to issue orders when there is no case pending in front of her. That’s not how a court’s jurisdiction is supposed to work.”
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung, in a statement: Cheung called Smith’s report an “unconstitutional, one-sided, falsehood-ridden screed,” adding: “It is time for Joe Biden and Merrick Garland to do the right thing and put a final stop to the political weaponization of our Justice system.”
What Happens Next
Now that Cannon’s three-day injunction has expired, it is possible the report could be released today, although more legal wrangling is expected.
The post ‘Strangest Thing’ About Aileen Cannon’s DOJ Order Queried by Attorney appeared first on Newsweek.
