Watergate Prosecutor Defends ‘Excellent’ Judge in Trump Case: It’s ‘Really Important’ to Have Her On This

Former Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman defended Judge Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over former President Donald Trump’s federal criminal case in Miami, by arguing she has an “excellent background” and it was strategically helpful to have a Trump-appointed judge on the case.

Last Friday, the Department of Justice unsealed a federal indictment stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of the ex-president with 37 criminal counts spelling out how Trump retained boxes of documents that “included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign counties; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to foreign attack.”

Some of the most shocking allegations in the indictment relate to communications from Trump, his family members, his attorneys, and other staffers acknowledging that he had retained classified information that had not been declassified — plus the now-viral photos showing boxes of documents that allegedly contained classified information, stacked up in bathrooms, ballroom stages, storage rooms, and other nonsecure areas.

“If Donald Trump is elected president, Nick, one might rightly presume that he would pardon himself whether or not this case has gone to trial,” said CNN News Central anchor John Berman on Tuesday. “Isn’t it in the Trump team’s interests to just delay it as long as possible?”

Akerman agreed, but added this was “a simple case — there is not a lot to it,” so there was “no reason for any kind of delay,” and if she were Smith, she would appear before Judge Cannon on “the first day” and argue that the prosecution had already turned over all the documents and discovery and push for a trial date in four months. “That is what ought to happen here, and there a good chance that it will.”

CNN Chief legal analyst Laura Coates noted that the Southern District of Florida courts were a “rocket docket,” known for efficient and expeditious processing of cases, but a trial date in four months was still “ambitious,” and there were several complicating legal issues that Trump’s attorneys could argue “with the eye to stretch it out,” so it wouldn’t be a “slam dunk” to be able to push forward so quickly.

Delays would be “advantageous” to the Trump team, Coates continued, because they want to fundraise off this case and the election is looming, so they can try to sway the court of public opinion.

Berman asked Akerman who would decide the court calendar and trial date, and the former prosecutor replied that it would be Judge Cannon, but “there is no reason to believe that she won’t move this along expeditiously.”

Akerman then voiced his defense of Cannon, a Trump appointee whose decision halting the initial Mar-a-Lago probe was overruled in a blistering opinion by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

“I know there’s a lot of criticism out there because’s a Trump appointee, she screwed up on her rulings with respect to the special master,” Akerman acknowledged, “but she has an excellent background, she was confirmed by a bipartisan group of the Senate, she’s a graduate of the University of Michigan law school, she worked for a reputable law firm afterwards, served time in the U.S. Attorney’s office, and has a reputation as being tough on criminal defendants.”

Cannon had “learned her lesson,” he argued, “after she was reversed by the Eleventh Circuit and instructed that Donald Trump is not to be treated any differently than any other defendant who is a criminal defendant in the United States,” so “the odds are that with everybody’s eyes on her, she’s going to do a good job, and at the end of the day, the best person to try Donald Trump, if he’s convicted, is a Trump appointee, because that will tamp down all of this concern of politicization of the judiciary, of the DOJ. I think it’s really important that Judge Cannon continue in this case and do her job.”

“I’m not yet convinced,” said Coates, “but I am happy to trust and verify. I’ll wait.”

Watch above via CNN.