(RepublicanNews.org) – A former prosecutor has cast doubt on Judge Aileen Cannon’s commitment to scheduling a trial for May in Donald Trump’s classified documents case. Joyce Vance used her blog, Civil Discourse, to criticize what she believes to be the snail’s-pace speed at which Cannon has gone through the case’s discovery motions, claiming that Cannon is likely not “serious” about putting the former president in the docket by May.
The case, which includes 40 federal charges against Trump, revolves around classified documents recovered from his Mar-A-Lago club by federal agents in August 2022. The prosecution alleges that these documents should not have remained in Trump’s possession once his presidential term ended in early 2022.
Vance noted that a possible consequence of any delays would be a clash of dates with another case against Trump – that of alleged election interference. Vance’s blog post explained that further delays are likely, not least due to one of the motions filed by Trump on Friday, February 23rd. Trump and his legal team have sought to have the classified documents case dismissed, partly on the basis of presidential immunity, which Vance says should take some time to address. Trump has argued that he should be granted presidential immunity in this case as his handling of the documents pertains to decisions made while he was leader of the country. The documents are said to be sensitive, with information about possible domestic security weak spots and the U.S. nuclear program.
Judge Cannon, 43, has already faced criticism throughout the case, notably for an early decision she made which was soon overturned by the Atlanta appeals court that she sits under. After the FBI searched Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate and recovered several documents, Cannon made use of an independent arbiter to determine which, if any, of the documents were privileged and therefore needed to be kept hidden from investigators. She then called a halt to the progression of the case until the arbiter had completed this work, a decision that was then reversed by the Atlanta appeals court panel which accused Cannon of giving Trump special treatment.
From the beginning of the case, Trump has denied all wrongdoing. As well as arguing for presidential immunity, Trump’s legal team has vowed to seek dismissal of the case by claiming misconduct on the part of prosecutors, who they say unfairly targeted the Republican presidential frontrunner.
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