Former prosecutor shares why he hopes 'Trump’s favorite judge' grants his motion to dismiss

16 March 2024

If US District Judge Aileen Cannon grants former President Donald Trump's motion to dismiss the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, one former federal prosecutor argues that it could end up working out in Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith's favor.

On Friday, Judge Cannon struck down one of Trump's two motions to dismiss the case. The New York Times reported that Cannon's two-page order rejected the former president's argument that Smith's application of the Espionage Act was too vague and should be thrown out. She has yet to rule on the second motion, which relates to Trump claiming the Presidential Records Act allows him to keep classified government documents from his administration after deeming them to be his own personal property.

In a video posted to X/Twitter, former assistant US attorney Glenn Kirschner said he "almost" hopes Cannon — whom he called "Trump's favorite judge" — grants the motion.

"Jack Smith will appeal that decision," Kirschner said. "They will not only reverse her, but it will result in her being removed from the case and a fair, independent impartial judge — one who does not owe their very job, their life tenure on the federal bench to the defendant — will be appointed."

As Kirschner pointed out, Trump appointed Cannon to a judicial vacancy in the Southern District of Florida (Mar-a-Lago's jurisdiction) in May of 2020, just months before he was voted out of office. And since the case fell into Cannon's lap, she has been roundly criticized for rulings and decisions that are overwhelmingly beneficial to the former president.

While the Mar-a-Lago trial was scheduled to begin on May 20, that date has since been scuttled and Cannon has yet to put a new trial date on the calendar. This has led to accusations that Cannon is intentionally "slow-walking" the trial until after election day. And if Trump wins the election in November, he could appoint an attorney general who could dismiss the case entirely, since the decision to prosecute federal crimes is at the DOJ's discretion.

Kirschner argued that another benefit of having a new judge take over the case is that the prosecution and defense would continue where they left off with Cannon, and wouldn't have to restart the lengthy pre-trial process.

"If a new judge steps in and takes over the case from Judge Cannon, that will not involve delay," he said. "You don't go back to jump and start the case all over again."

The classified documents trial is considered the strongest against Trump given the wealth of evidence the DOJ has at its disposal. The former president was indicted on 40 felony counts last year for allegedly mishandling thousands of government documents stored at his Florida residence and obstructing efforts to retrieve them. Each of the 30 counts of willful retention of classified documents carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

Watch Kirschner's video below or by clicking this link.

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