Why the former president-appointed judge’s decisions are controversial

The attorney was only 38 years old and had a limited application when Donald Trump appointed him a federal judge — a lifetime term — for the Southern District of Florida. Two years later, Eileen Cannon finds herself at the center of a political and legal battle Documents were seized from Trump At Mar-a-Lago in early August. His results, which heavily favored the former US president, were controversial.

Thursday she has An independent expert was appointed, Judge Drury gave Donald Trump until Nov. 30, after the midterm congressional elections, to review 11,000 documents seized from Donald Trump and return some to him under an executive name. After all, this expertise prevented a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation at the time. This time he rejected his request to have access to 100 classified documents.

A “one-sided” decision

“Judge Cannon is a partisan writer,” said Andrew Weissman, a former DOJ attorney in the Obama administration. “She says that it has not been established that the documents are classified, but Trump has never told the court that they are not, and has not presented any evidence. The only evidence she has is that it is written in them (they are classified). Her decision is completely biased. »

“This decision is shameful. It shouldn’t take too long to overturn it on appeal,” said conservative lawyer George Conway, a regular critic of the former US president, who was advised by his wife, Kellyanne Conway. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who voted to confirm Judge Cannon, defended her, ironically: “Liberals only criticize judges when they don’t rule in their favor.”

Government calls

On Friday evening, the DOJ decided to appeal before a three-judge panel drawn from an 11-member panel, six of whom were appointed by Trump. The case could go to the Supreme Court, which has six of the nine conservative justices, including three appointed by Trump. The latter decided against the former US president when he refused to send documents from his administration to the investigative committee on January 6.

While the Justice Department has a significant chance of winning, this ping-pong game could take time — and Donald Trump seems willing to play the clock and drag out the process to avoid weighing Republicans in the midterms.