I know the focus with Trump’s legal problems is his Manhattan trial and Michael Cohen’s taking the witness stand against him this week. However it’s not the only legal case against him. Both the DC and Florida cases are far more serious, and arguably because on the incalculable damage to National Security Trump’s theft of classified information it’s the most serious of all. Regardless, it’s the one he least has to worry about since once again federal District judge Aileen Cannon has shown she has NO intention of allowing Trump to be tried. Everyone knows it and amongst Team Trump they talk openly about it.
Rolling Stone has an article that’s both sobering and infuriating explaining just how much Trump and his people love having “Loose” Cannon on the team. And she is. Hell, at times she’s cleaned up some of Trump’s lawyers own WTF? motions and arguments for them, and/or suggested what they should be arguing! According to Rolling Stone Trump’s inner-circle think Cannon is Trump’s not so secret weapon to get him back into the WH. As you know, she recently postponed setting a trial date “indefinitely.” It barely got mentioned in the news because it wasn’t actually news. Like I said, even though this trial could have been held back in December or January she started slow walking things. It was clear long ago she had NO intention of allowing Trump to go to trial in her court. At least before the election. (In the meantime she’s hard at work making sure he’ll never be convicted)
How bad are things? How much does Team Trump love Cannon? Well, there’s this:
“My favorite member of the Trump campaign,” one Republican close to the former president – at least somewhat jokingly – tells Rolling Stone. A Trump adviser similarly says of Cannon: “She’s a godsend.”
Rolling Stone describes how last year longtime Trump associates and campaign folks were concerned about the negative impact of one or both of Trump’s federal cases on his 2024 chances. IF they took place before election day. Well, that was then but I’m surprised they were ever all that worried about the Florida case given how Cannon tried to mess with it not once but TWICE before an indictment was ever handed down and it wound up being assigned to her. Clearly if they had any worries those are long gone:
According to two other sources with knowledge of the situation, Cannon’s delays and legal reasoning have become something of a running joke among the upper crust of Trumpworld, with various political advisers and campaign staff, lawyers, and media figures in the ex-president’s orbit remarking on how obviously and helpfully Cannon has been in the tank for Trump.
Trump got to pick way too many judges and Justices and they have stepped up big time to cover his fat orange butt. Hell, Cannon was a lame duck appointment confirmed AFTER Trump had lost the election. Thanks Schumer. Does anyone think for one second that if the GOP was in control of the Senate that McConnell would allow a single judge nominated by a just defeated Biden to be confirmed? Hell, he’d already be holding up appointments. Trump’s three picks to SCOTUS might not have always ruled in his favor but when it’s mattered most they stepped up to ensue there’s be no DC trial before voters go to the polls. That’s not “official” yet nor is Cannon’s “indefinite” delay in setting a trial date but practically speaking that’s where things are. Toadies hand picked by Trump are doing everything they can to help Trump:
But thanks to the conservative U.S. Supreme Court, it now seems like a near-impossibility that Trump’s federal election subversion trial will start any time this year. The court’s decision to hear Trump’s immunity claims, pausing the election subversion case, so thoroughly delighted the Trumpland elite that some were “literally popping champagne” in response to the news. And thanks to Cannon’s repeated delays and decisions in Florida, there is virtually no chance that Trump’s classified-docs criminal trial will happen this year, either.
Trump is clearly stressed out by his Manhattan trial to be sure. But don’t for one minute think his other cases are adding to his stress level. The Georgia RICO case which might have started this summer got its timeline blown up well before this current trial. And SCOTUS might as well have hired a skywriter to say “WE HAVE YOUR BACK!” over Mar A Lago. And as I’ve pointed out here, they’ve known for so long Cannon was in the tank for Trump it’s something they JOKE about! Popping champagne over judges/Justices he picked covering for him.
Think about that. Trump knows the only case he’s got to worry about is the one he’s on trial for in Manhattan. He can’t even hold it together for that one single case. I honestly think he’d have a complete and public mental breakdown if on top of what he’s currently going through he was looking at turning right around and a month after the verdict in this case going on trial in either DC or for that matter even in Florida with a judge that’s effectively part of his defense team!
So let’s all hope Michael Cohen summons the discipline to control himself in the days ahead. He wants payback. From the witness stand. He wants to slam Trump with criticism and zing him with what he thinks will be witty one-liners. If he does he’ll play right into the hands of Trump who only needs a single juror to decide Cohen was enough to create reasonable doubt. So cross your fingers people. If you believe in it pray. This week could break Trump or turn him loose even worse than getting acquitted in his first impeachment trial did.
With the Georgia case stuck in the mud, and SCOTUS and now Cannon making sure no other cases will be tried this year this is it. And in Florida Cannon at least is such a sure thing as far as Team Trump is concerned they are joking about it!
Ok, so WHY isn’t Jack doing something about this, like going to the 11th Circuit Court and have her disbarred or recused? Makes me sick to my stomach that Cannon is able to do this and nothing can be done!! WTF????
We all have that right to a speedy trial. Maybe Smith can get her removed on that alone. Definitely justice denied, she really slammed the door shut on this case and took the key with her.
“Hell, Cannon was a lame duck appointment confirmed AFTER Trump had lost the election. Thanks Schumer.”
Denis, do some damned fact-checking before you pull this kind of sarcasm!
Cannon was confirmed after the election, that’s true. But Schumer was NOT in charge of the Senate until January of 2021. Cannon was confirmed in NOVEMBER of 2020.
Cannon was confirmed by a vote of 56-21 with 23 senators not voting (including “St Bernie of Sanders”). If you want some names to blame, here are some:
Doug Jones (D-AL). He lost re-election but he chose to confirm Cannon.
Chris Coons (D-DE). He won re-election but he chose to confirm Cannon.
Tom Carper (D-DE). He wasn’t up for re-election but he chose to confirm Cannon.
Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV). She wasn’t up for re-election but she chose to confirm Cannon.
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). She wasn’t up for re-election but she chose to confirm Cannon.
Maggie Hassan (D-NH). She wasn’t up for re-election but she chose to confirm Cannon.
Tim Kaine (D-VA). He wasn’t up for re-election but he chose to confirm Cannon.
Patrick Leahy (D-VT). He wasn’t up for re-election but he chose to confirm Cannon.
Joe Manchin (D-WV). He wasn’t up for re-election but he chose to confirm Cannon.
Chris Murphy (D-CT). He wasn’t up for re-election but he chose to confirm Cannon.
Jacky Rosen (D-NV). She wasn’t up for re-election but she chose to confirm Cannon.
Mark Warner (D-VA). He won re-election but he chose to confirm Cannon.
That’s TWELVE Democrats who voted to confirm Cannon. Again, Cannon was confirmed by a vote of 56-21. There were NINE GOPers who didn’t vote (compared to 13 Dems and 1 Independent). Whether the GOPers didn’t vote because they weren’t present or they didn’t feel a need to vote. Of the nine, 1 was defeated for re-election (Loeffler of GA), 1 was retiring (Alexander of TN) and the other 7 either weren’t running or they won re-election.
But, if the 12 Dems had voted against confirming Cannon and the 9 GOPers had still not voted, then Cannon wouldn’t have been confirmed. (If the 9 GOPers had voted, then Cannon would’ve still been confirmed with 53 votes, instead of 56.)
But, again, Chuck Schumer had NOTHING to do with the vote (and, he voted against confirmation anyway).
Facts matter, Denis. You don’t get a pass for spreading bull crap, not even as “opinion” (for the record, again, McConnell was still in charge of the Senate until January of 2021 and he almost kept some power after January of 2021–only the fact that Kamala Harris would hold the “tie-breaking vote” due to her status as the new VP allowed Schumer to take charge in the Senate).
No, this time I’m pushing back on you. You point out errors all the way down to typos, and sometimes more substantive ones and that’s fine. I can’t say I like being corrected but it’s a good thing. Usually. THIS time however I’m going to strongly disagree with you. As Minority Leader Schumer in the end might have failed to block this confirmation. So I’ll concede a small amount BUT there are any number of ways that in such a short time and with the holidays Schumer might, had he chosen to fight it out the way you goddamned well know MCCONNELL would have had the roles been reversed this and some other appointments might have been stymied. Schumer CHOSE not to fight it out. He COULD have and SHOULD have sat down with the caucus and pointedly reminded them of ALL McConnell’s fuckery. The years of using procedural methods of blocking confirmations during Obama’s Presidency to create extra openings. Even as Chief Justice Roberts was on the record complaining about caseloads getting stacked up and federal judges being overworked.
Then the business with Garland’s nomination to SCOTUS. And THEN the way after popping the champagne and then going over to Arlington to piss it out on the grave of RBG’s husband in which she’s also be buried the despicable hypocrisy of ramming through Barret’s confirmation when early voting had already started! So hell yes Schumer should have laid down the law about confirming any judges, ESPECIALLY after the election. Don’t sit there all high minded and tell me Schumer couldn’t have and shouldn’t have gone scorched earth on McConnell. He should have made it clear there would be hell to pay if ANY Democrat voted to move along the nomination of ANY Trump judicial nominee at that point.
As I said, Schumer might not have succeeded with blocking any of the confirmations with procedural stunts but again, if you’re going to tell me McConnell wouldn’t have pulled out every trick in the book and even (again) invented some to do it to a Democratic President trying to move lame duck confirmations through a narrow Democratically controlled Senate with a GOPer about to be sworn in as President I call bullshit.
Schumer didn’t even fucking try. So yes, a number of Democrats went along just to clear the calendar so they could close up shop and get home for the holidays. You can’t win a fight if you walk away instead of fighting and by god THIS was the kind of fight that goddamned well SHOULD have been fought. It’s not like we didn’t know the whole fucking plan, to put young super hard-core Federalist Society ideologues into the judiciary so they could spend as much as FOUR fucking decades (or more) imposing, inflicting their extreme views on us all. MOST case law gets made in the appellate courts. That’s always been the case and Schumer goddamn well knew that.
FACT: Schumer might have failed, BUT he COULD have and SHOULD have fought tooth and nail. And he rolled over for McConnell.
If you want to give Schumer a pass then do ahead. I DON’T. And one last time, if you’re going to sit there and say McConnell wouldn’t have done everything, every dirty, sleazy trick to block confirmations during that lame duck period with a Democratic President coming in I call bullshit!
When is this effing twit going to be removed from this case?