Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon handed prosecutors in his Mar-a-Lago case a shocking ultimatum on Monday.

The MAGA-friendly federal judge who keeps siding with Donald Trump in his Mar-a-Lago classified records case has forced prosecutors to make a stark choice: allow jurors to see a huge trove of national secrets or let him go.

U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon’sultimatum Monday night came as a surprise twist in what could have been a simple order; one merely asking federal prosecutors and Trump’s lawyers for proposed jury instructions at the upcoming trial.

But as she has done repeatedly, Cannon used this otherwise innocuous legal step as yet another way to swing the case wildly in favor of the man who appointed her while he was president.

Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith must now choose whether to allow jurors at the upcoming criminal trial to peruse the many classified records found at the former president’s South Florida mansion or give jurors instructions that would effectively order them to acquit him.

  • Transporter Room 3@startrek.website
    25·
    8 months ago

    I don’t understand how anyone can see someone who was appointed by one of the people involved in the case, and stands to benefit further if said person wins the case, is not a conflict of interest.

    I’ve seen lawyers drop a case over a distant family member they haven’t spoken to in decades having once lived with the sitting judge in college. Something that as far as I can see has no bearing on current events at all.

    I’ve seen locals get angry at a judge because they were seen eating in the same restaurant as someone involved in a case, on different sides of the building. With the partitions and seating arrangements, it’s likely neither of them even knew the other was there until someone pointed it out.

    But this is totally fine. It’s fine. Everything’s fine. We’re all fine here, now. Thanks.

    How are you?

    • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
      16·
      8 months ago

      I don’t understand how anyone can see someone who was appointed by one of the people involved in the case, and stands to benefit further if said person wins the case, is not a conflict of interest.

      It very much is a conflict of interest!

      The issue is that there doesn’t appear to be anybody both willing and able to do anything about it.