Be careful what you wish for. You might just get it and you might just find out that the delay and histrionics were not worth the downside that is going to take place.
Earlier today Judge Aileen (hereinafter “Loose”) Cannon granted Donald Trump his Special Master, which is an effort in futility. Talk about a day late and a dollar short.
Come read the political tea leaves as they now stand.
Here are the details of Cannon’s order, which bars DOJ from reviewing the documents for criminal purposes. Special master candidates are due Sept. 9. Trump does not get his documents back yet. https://t.co/ZymlW7T3EA pic.twitter.com/JJRXvrkwAW
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) September 5, 2022
Now here’s where it gets ridiculous and you see what political posturing this all is. There are only a few documents which are privileged, pertaining to tax records and medical records. And Cannon was offered those records last week.
Had Cannon granted that request, it would have given Trump the stuff she says poses the irreparable harm to him — no more than 520 pages of tax and medical records — and given him a way to carve that back within weeks, maybe days. Instead, he won't get it.
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) September 5, 2022
She deferred.
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) September 5, 2022
This is where it gets nuts.
This is Trump flying above the law.
Judge Aileen Cannon Thinks 64 Tax and Medical Records No Investigator Has Read are More Important than 11,282 Stolen Government Documentshttps://t.co/M9pUbSFksU
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) September 5, 2022
The filter team came PREPARED to give Trump the personal documents she used to justify this order, so they could claw them back immediately. Now it'll be weeks before they could get them back.
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) September 5, 2022
They'll appeal, I'd think, but my understanding is the court that would be hearing the appeal is also "conservative."
— wizard prang (@wzrdprang) September 5, 2022
Folks: Let me interject here: DOJ HAS to appeal this. Cannon's order, as envisioned, is actually a great risk to Trump's privilege than the status quo.
— emptywheel (@emptywheel) September 5, 2022
Emptywheel is not the only one who says DOJ must appeal. That is the hew and cry throughout the land right now.
In 30 years of prosecuting cases, I never saw a judge make up her mind on an issue BEFORE the other party had an opportunity to respond to the request. This is dead wrong.
Note: this judge, Aileen Cannon, was confirmed by Mitch McConnell’s Senate AFTER Trump lost the election. https://t.co/AmFa1QVUBz— Glenn Kirschner (@glennkirschner2) August 28, 2022
This will open floodgates of defense lawyers seeking to enjoin criminal investigations which they will be ethically obligated to do – https://t.co/oyjzQZs9nn
— Shanlon Wu (@shanlonwu) September 5, 2022
Former Harvard Law professor of law Laurence Tribe slammed Judge Cannon:
“According to Judge Cannon, the robber can get a special master — but only if he had been the president before robbing the bank, because ‘the investigation and treatment of a former president is of unique interest to the general public.’ I.e., a former president is above the law.”
Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti adds that “Judge Cannon made sense out of Trump’s bizarre, convoluted motion and gave him more than he was entitled to.”
“The motion didn’t really help the defense much, but by granting a temporary injunction, she delays the investigation,” he says, which does help Trump.
It’s one bloody mess, all right. Stay tuned.
Captain Renault: I’m shocked! Shocked there’s gambling going on here.
Staffer from Rick’s: Your winnings sir.
Captain Renault: Thank you.
As Kurt vonnegut noted: so it goes. Po tweet!
Reality Winner swiped one document and was arrested immediately and spent four years in prison.
one document. four years.
she didn’t get to pick her own rent-a-judge
held in jail for a year until charges could be brought too !
Lock Him Up Now
MAGA World
what a brain-dead c*nt. Is this a fair example of the garbage former guy put in the courts? If so, we are so fucked in the ass by stupidity.
Garland had better appeal this garbage ruling and quickly so we can get going with putting the orange punk in prison where he belongs.
tRump will probably nominate his current “special master”.
https://www.cleveland.com/resizer/7HSc7SRtoY9xkmFHywAGB7Eyzsc=/1280×0/smart/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/advancelocal/Q7LURRMVINELJD647VSJTVF5II.jpg
All of those highly educated lawyers at the doj, outsmarted by a dim wit.
Now we know why the common criminal is still walking around free.