Former Trump Attorney Accuses Judge Cannon of Favoring Ex-President in Documents Case: ‘Playing Right Into the Defense’s Hands’

A former lawyer for Donald Trump said U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has shown a bias toward his former client in the ex-president’s documents case.

Trump is under criminal indictment in federal court for what prosecutors say was his willful retention of classified documents and his efforts to obstruct the government’s attempts to retrieve them. He has pleaded not guilty.

Cannon, who was appointed to her position by Trump in 2020, has rendered several head-scratching rulings – two of which were reversed by the very conservative 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. She has also held a series of lengthy hearings on various motions made by Trump’s attorneys. Currently, she is considering a motion challenging the constitutionality of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s appointment to his present position. The judge took the unusual step of inviting outside parties to participate in the hearing. Additionally, Cannon – who has indefinitely postponed the start of the trial – held a hearing on Monday to consider the prosecution’s motion seeking a gag order against the former president.

Not surprisingly, some lawyers have accused Cannon of favoring Trump. That includes Michael van der Veen, who defended the former president at his second impeachment trial in 2021 after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Appearing on CNN NewsNight, van der Veen critiqued Cannon’s handling of the case.

“Is she just dragging this thing out?” host Abby Phillip asked.

“She certainly seems to be taken a lot longer than is possibly necessary,” he answered. “She’s a smart lady, she has a great temperament in the courtroom. But the decisions aren’t coming quick enough. She’s asking too many other people to come in and give their opinions. The amicus curiae brief that she’s invited, it’s just very unusual. It’s really important when on the bench to give your decisions well-reasoned, but also timely and to continue to give people time to supplement the arguments and supplement evidence… It’s really playing right into the defense’s hands.”

Watch above via CNN.