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Cannon, an appointee of President Trump, had previously scheduled jury selection in the case to begin on May 20, but Tuesday’s order gives her enough time to decide by July. Several additional hearings and attorney deadlines were scheduled. “There are a myriad of interrelated pre-trial matters and CIPA issues,” she said before the trial began, referring to the Confidential Information Procedures Act.
Trump was charged with 37 charges, including 31 charges of violating the Espionage Act for “intentional retention of national defense information” related to his handling of classified documents smuggled into his Mar-a-Lago club after leaving office. He has been indicted. He pleaded not guilty.
Legal experts and political strategists who spoke to Business Insider said he has repeatedly sided with Trump on issues that have come up during the proceedings, damaging Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case. , said the move was not surprising. Smith’s office declined to comment on the order.
“With the canon judge reversing his decision today, this case is likely to be postponed past the election,” litigation and appellate lawyer Katie Charleston told BI. He has extensive experience in jury trials and reviewing government contracts and procedures.
If that’s the case, if Trump is re-elected in November’s presidential election, he could get rid of all the lawsuits brought by the Justice Department, meaning he could avoid the case altogether. Become.
This is just the latest legal victory for Trump in the classified documents case handed to him by Cannon. Previously, she ruled that the special director should review classified documents seized by the FBI from Mar-a-Lago, a decision that was ultimately overturned in a blistering opinion by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. It was done.
Cannon previously denied the special counsel’s request to suppress the names of potential witnesses in the case, but legal experts told BI earlier this year that the decision would likely be overturned on appeal. Ta. According to the Associated Press, Cannon last month agreed to prosecutors’ requests to redact the names of witnesses, but refused to block their statements from being disclosed in pretrial motions.
Paula Reed, CNN’s chief legal correspondent, said Cannon’s critics question whether Cannon ruled in favor of Trump because of bias, inexperience or “analysis paralysis.” He pointed out that he was holding her. The U.S. District Court for South Florida did not respond to a request for comment.
Former federal prosecutor Neema Rahmani said in response to the trial’s delay, “Judge Cannon has ruled in favor of Mr. Trump on almost every occasion, so her decision to postpone the trial indefinitely makes no sense.” I’m not surprised,” he told BI. “She seems to be at a loss due to her inexperience. She has made a number of bizarre decisions that are not supported by logic or law and have already been overturned multiple times by the 11th Circuit. .”
Rahmani said the delay was a huge benefit to the former president “especially in the midst of another court case and presidential campaign,” adding that the ruling was “another victory for Trump in South Florida.”
Former Trump White House Counsel Ty Cobb told CNN on Tuesday that Cannon’s latest decision was a “combination of bias and incompetence.”
“Frankly, I think her goal was always to prevent this from going to court,” he said.
On the political front, Cannon’s decision is energizing Trump’s allies, said Charlie Colleen, chief strategist at RED PAC, which supports Republican candidates including Trump. Colleen told BI that the ruling “proves Mr. Trump’s case” that prosecutors are a “political witch hunt,” adding that Mr. Trump’s supporters in general He said it shows he views the ruling as evidence that the law is on Trump’s side.
Attorney and legal analyst Tre LaBelle said many legal experts have suggested that Cannon has provided Trump with favorable treatment throughout the proceedings, but the secrets at hand in the case It said the information required careful consideration and meant such delays were to be expected.
But regardless of her intentions, Trump’s legal strategy in all four criminal cases remains “delay, delay, delay,” said Doron Kalia, a professor at Cleveland State University School of Law.
This is just the latest example of President Trump’s trial being delayed. The Jan. 6 trial is on hold until the Supreme Court rules on the president’s immunity, and the Georgia case was delayed due to an alleged romantic relationship between prosecutor Fani Willis and lead prosecutor Nathan Wade.
Trump’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Given Cannon’s recent delays, Khalil said it was not surprising given his previous actions on the case.
He also noted that Trump’s lawyers had succeeded in delaying three of the four lawsuits against him, with the exception of the hush-money case currently being tried in New York, calling it “an absolutely remarkable record! ” he said.