Experts: Latest development from Judge Cannon is 'worrisome' in Trump classified docs case

06 March 2024

A host of legal experts are weighing in on the most recent announcement by US District Judge Aileen Cannon that she would be accepting two amicus briefs filed by allies of former President Donald Trump.

Politico legal correspondent Kyle Cheney tweeted the announcement from Cannon on Wednesday, when she said she would be accepting an amicus ("friend of the court") brief filed by Trump advisor Stephen Miller's organization America First Legal, and another from Ed Meese, who was the late president Ronald Reagan's attorney general — known for his role in helping to cover up the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan administration.

"The Court has reviewed the motions and finds that the proposed amici bring to the Court's attention relevant matter that may be of considerable help to the Court in resolving the cited pretrial motions," Cannon wrote. "The amicus briefs are accepted for Court consideration. Should the Special Counsel or Defendants wish to file a separate response to either amicus brief, they may do so on or before March 15, 2024."

The America First Legal brief argues that it's inappropriate for anyone to challenge Trump's designation of presidential documents as "personal" in nature. The second brief attempts to make the case that Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith was not properly appointed, and thus his prosecution of the former president should be dismissed (Meese asserts that because Smith was not confirmed by the US Senate that his appointment as special counsel is illegitimate, even though there have been three special counsel investigations in the past led by prosecutors not confirmed by the full Senate).

Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann — who was an assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of New York — commented that it was "ok" for Cannon to accept the briefs, but that "the commentary from the court is worrisome." Joyce Vance, another former federal prosecutor, sarcastically referred to Cannon's order as "fabulous." Legal commentator Amee Vanderpool practically begged for Cannon to dismiss the case, tweeting that she was tired of her "bulls--- posturing" and "faux legal standards."

"Let's just get this kicked up to an Appellate Court already," Vanderpool wrote.

However, others weren't so quick to jump to conclusions about Judge Cannon's latest announcement. X account @sunnyright found the full text of Rule 37, which governs the acceptance of amicus briefs in federal court, which states that "an amicus curiae brief that brings to the attention of the Court relevant matter not already brought to its attention by the parties may be of considerable help to the Court."

"'Considerable help' is a standard set forth in the rule cited. It's the threshold for being considered. She didn't make up the descriptor just for them," @sunnyright tweeted.

Eric Columbus, who describes himself in his X/Twitter bio as an appointee in former President Barack Obama's DOJ, had a similar viewpoint, tweeting that Judge Cannon was simply saying "these briefs may be filed."

"The 'may be of considerable help' language comes from the relevant Supreme Court rule regarding amicus briefs (there's no corresponding rule in district courts) and these are the only two amicus briefs filed so far," Columbus tweeted. Kyle Cheney shared his own assessment of the announcement, saying Columbus' view that it was pulled from Rule 37 was likely the correct assumption.

Smith's prosecution of Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents is considered his strongest, given the wealth of evidence collected throughout the course of the investigation. However, whether it goes to trial before the election is still unknown. During a recent hearing, Judge Cannon — whom Trump appointed to the bench in 2020 to a lifetime term — appeared to disagree with Smith that a trial could be held in July. Currently, the only one of Trump's four upcoming criminal trials that has a definitive date is his Manhattan trial, which is scheduled to start on March 25.

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