Two CNN legal analysts and host Anderson Cooper implied Wednesday that the federal judge presiding over the classified documents case involving former President Donald Trump was “scared.”
United States District Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida altered on Wednesday the schedule for pre-trial hearings in the case stemming from allegations surrounding Trump’s handling of classified materials, according to The New York Times. CNN analyst Norm Eisen criticized Cannon for not expediting the case in accordance with the wishes of special counsel Jack Smith.
“George W. Bush called himself the decider,” Eisen told Cooper. “That’s what judges are supposed to do. They’re supposed to decide. Judge Cannon is the staller, the procrastinator, and it’s just the opposite of what you would expect from really almost any other judge in the entire federal system … It’s one of the worst performances any of us have seen. Her mindset — of course, none of us knows what’s going on — there may be an element not just of currying favor with Trump or of other ill-intentioned goals.”
“She may also be scared,” he continued. “She sees how Donald Trump can turn on a judge. She sees what he’s done in New York. She and her family have to live in Fort Pierce. In a way, if she’s doing it out of fear or if there’s an element, that’s even worse. We look to federal judges to decide the cases, to move them along.”
WATCH:
Trump alleged Merchan was “hand-picked” by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a March post on Truth Social. He also criticized Loren Merchan, the judge’s daughter, in multiple Truth Social posts, including one linking to a New York Post report on how her firm helped Democrats raise $93 million off of the former president’s indictment.
“She could, like, blink with her eyebrows and send a message, you know, of —” Cooper said.
Analyst Jeffrey Toobin interrupted, saying, “‘I’m a hostage on my bench.’”
Cannon faced calls for recusal over decisions seen as being favorable to Trump. The United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit’s Judicial Council announced it would not accept further complaints against Cannon, saying they were part of an “orchestrated campaign,” CNN reported.
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