Former Trump attorney: Cannon’s conduct “playing right into the defense’s hands”
WRITTEN BY MIRANDA NAZZARO on June 24th at 9:00AM
POST Michael van der Veen, former attorney to former President Trump, charged that the judge overseeing the classified documents case is inadvertently playing into their hands by postponing decisions about pretrial procedures.
On Monday, when asked by media if Judge Aileen Cannon is “dragging this thing out,” van der Veen answered that she seemed to be taking much longer than necessary.
He pointed out that Cannon is “fairly new,” yet is an intelligent individual, yet criticizes her for not issuing decisions “quick enough.”
“She has asked too many outside experts to come and give their opinions; an amicus curia brief she invited was simply unusual,” the judge commented. He added that it’s vital for judges to issue decisions quickly while giving parties time to present arguments or evidence; otherwise it does nothing for justice but instead plays directly into defense attorney hands.
Cannon is currently presided over a three-day hearing in which Trump’s attorneys aim to dismiss or postpone the classified documents case.
On Friday, both sides engaged in discussions regarding the legality of special counsel Jack Smith who, according to Trump’s defense team, was unlawfully appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to oversee their classified documents investigation.
Lawyers were also scheduled to address a gag order requested by prosecutors that would prevent Trump from making certain comments about FBI agents and law enforcement personnel involved in this case. The hearing is anticipated to wrap up by Tuesday.
Former President Bush is facing 40 charges of mishandling classified documents and hindering government attempts to retrieve records after leaving office, of which he has pleaded not guilty.
Cannon postponed the trial’s start date until further consideration had been given to various legal arguments she needed to consider, giving Trump’s legal team an edge in postponing any trials until after November’s elections.
