It’s been said that Aileen Cannon should recuse herself but now I’m thinking that she’s good to have around. Let her stay, by all means. You are aware that Employee 4, the IT director at Mar-a-Lago, Yuscil Taveras, decided to flip on Donald Trump yesterday, evidently deciding that his liberty meant more than his loyalty to Trump, who may not be ruling the roost at Mar-a-Lago in the not too distant future. Taveras changed his previous testimony to one which implicated Trump, Carlos DeOliveira and Walt Nauta in the contemplated erasure of security camera tapes.
Cannon was the one who got this ball rolling. Read the following roll out of Lawfare’s Roger Parloff’s reply on X. It reads like a novel and the moral of the story is “Don’t fix what’s not broken, Aileen.” I hope Cannon pulls one of these bloopers every week.
The] Govt’s filing yesterday in USA v Trump (MAL) is devastating. It was responding to Judge Cannon’s inquiry—acting on her own—suggesting there was something abusive about govt’s continued use of DC grand jury after M-a-L indictment was handed down.
It all began when the govt asked for a hearing on whether atty Stanley Woodward had a conflict of interest because he (a) reps def Nauta; (b) previously rep’d Trump Employee 4 (Yuscil Taveras)—now a govt witness vs. Nauta et al—& (c) reps two other potential witnesses. …
… Govt tried to accompany that motion with a sealed filing discreetly explaining the potential conflicts, but Judge Cannon—acting on her own—instantly struck it & then demanded to know why DC grand jury was still sitting …
On Cannon’s cue, Woodward accused the special counsel of trying to “diminish [Cannon’s] authority” by abusively using DC grand jury to gather evidence for an already indicted case. …
… Woodward also asked to strike former client Yuscil Taveras’ proposed incriminating testimony against his current client Nauta to preserve integrity of proceedings & Nauta’s right to counsel of his choice. …
… Yesterday—Cannon having giving it no choice but to outline Woodward’s potential conflicts on the record— govt provided the extraordinary & damning timeline. ...
.. In Mar 2023, govt called Taveras—then rep’d by Woodward—before DC grand jury. Beforehand, govt warned Woodward of a potential conflict, but Woodward said he knew of none. Taveras then perjured self, denying discussing destroying video surveillance footage with De Oliveira.
… Govt notes in passing that Taveras had been referred to Woodward by a Trump lawyer and his fees were then being paid by Trump’s Save America PAC. …
On June 8 the Florida grand jury handed first USA v Trump (MAL) indictment. It did *not* yet name De Oliveira or Taveras. On June 20 govt advised Taveras, thru Woodward, that he was the target of perjury investigation in DC—where the perjury occurred. …
Govt says the target letter “crystallized” Woodward’s conflict, because having Taveras correct his g.j. testimony, to avoid prosecution, would implicate Nauta, Woodward’s other client.
.. Woodward still declined to recognize a conflict, insisting that, per govt, Taveras could choose to tough out his indictment by going to trial and hoping for the best. He said he’d also told Taveras of his right to cooperate, too.
On Jun 27 govt asked for a conflicts hearing before chief judge Boasberg in DC, who supervises the DC grand jury, where the perjury occurred. Govt advised Judge Cannon same day in sealed filings. Woodward did *not* object. …
This is the key part, right here. If Cannon hadn’t gotten this ball rolling, Taveras would not have spoken to this other attorney and would not have retained her instead of the one he presently had.
Judge Boasberg asked an independent counsel, Shelli Peterson of DC Federal Public Defenders, to advise Taveras on potential conflicts. Taveras asked Peterson to represent him and then retracted his false testimony, implicating Nauta, De O, & Trump, per govt.
Govt cites numerous binding federal appellate precedents allowing grand juries to investigate “other persons” not named in an existing indictment or to explore “additional charges” against existing defs. All seem to be apply here.
Govt notes that it could find no precedent in which a district judge struck incriminating testimony against a defendant in order to protect that def’s “right to counsel of his choice”—except one case in which the judge was overturned on appeal for having done so. …
Pretty powerful filing, IMHO. Unnecessarily embarrassing to Woodward, Nauta, De Oliveira, Trump—and Judge Cannon.
What happened yesterday was a BFD. And Trump is shaking in his boots because of it, make no mistake. He’s petrified of what could happen next. Carry on, Judge Cannon, carry on.
WOW, another strike by a loose Cannon, ( 🙂 ) …
This whole mess, IS, of course, a product of Trump’s complete, unbridled stupidity …
What could possibly be running through that empty brain of Trump’s giant EGO?
What COULD Georgia do at the booking event? Could he make a threatening statement, directly to all the court system, or Judge alone?
With his library of useless words and statements, unbridled fear could make his mouth make sounds unappreciated by the higher court of Georgia, which seems to want him to do …
I’m all for a couple nights in that low-rated jail there at the booking …
I’m bummed out. Supposedly Trump can self report height and weight, which means he’ll be 6’4″ and 180 pounds, most likely. Oh, I was so looking forward to him getting on a scale!
So what happens now? The DC grand jury considers charges against Woodward et al. for suborning perjury? And would the et al. include trump, since his PAC is footing the legal bills and he is the beneficiary?
The arrogant,(Cannon), and the stupid,(baby huey/sycophants), ALWAYS stumble into unintended consequences.
While I, too, LOVE the idiocy and incompetence of this wanna-be “judge”, what concerns me is the potential for the orange pustule to claim a mis trial because of the incompetence of the judge he “bought”. Bad council is justification for retrial. Is “incompetent lap poodle judge in your pocket” also justification?
Judging by what you have revealed above, Cannon knows how to make, and continue to make, quality fodder. Keep that ball rolling Aileen, fire off another one – your’e good at it.
I find it either amusing or sobering that these defendants are all using every trick in the LAW to escape their lawlessness.
Turns out I was right when I wrote this sorry excuse for a judge so ironically named Cannon had aimed one at herself and pulled the lanyard to fire it. It just took a while to go off. Maybe more like an old-timey one with a fuse that takes a little while to burn down and set the thing off but regardless she’s blown a big hole in the wall she was trying to build to protect Trump!