(Washington) Donald Trump’s appointee, Eileen Cannon, must now judge him. Drawn by lottery to oversee the federal investigation of the former president, the magistrate wields enormous influence over the process, which is not to everyone’s taste.
“It’s hard for anyone to judge someone who gave you your job,” said Wendy Schiller, a professor of public policy at Brown University.
Also, when the defendant cries, presenting himself as a victim of “persecution”, “this signals to the judge that he is under surveillance”, says the expert during an exchange with AFP.
Can Aileen Cannon withstand these pressures? Those who want to see Donald Trump censured for his reckless handling of White House secrets are skeptical.
Firstly, he has little experience as a magistrate.
The Republican billionaire gave him the job of a lifetime as a federal judge shortly before he was defeated in the November 2020 presidential election. He was 38 at the time, including three years at a law firm and seven years in Florida federal prosecutors’ offices.
Senate Judiciary Committee photo via Associated Press Archives
Eileen Cannon testifies virtually during her nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington in July 2020.
During his tenure, he oversaw only four criminal trials that lasted no more than three days, according to Politico.
And then, because he’s “a very conservative judge,” notes Thomas Holbrook, a professor of political science at Wisconsin.
The daughter of a Cuban refugee, she is notably a member of the Federalist Society, the most influential organization in legal circles that has the ear of elected Republicans and supports a literal reading of the Constitution.
But above all, he has already shown great respect for Donald Trump.
After the FBI searched his luxury club Mar-a-Lago in August 2022, the septuagenarian took legal action to prevent prosecutors from using the seized documents. Judge Cannon had already inherited the case, and agreed with him in part, citing “unusual circumstances” related to the “former presidency of the United States.”
He was rebuffed by his court’s three magistrates in an unusually critical tone: “While the existence of a search warrant for a former president’s home is indeed unusual, it should in no way affect our legal analysis,” they wrote.
“traitor”
All this would matter little if the judge had only a ceremonial role, but that is far from the case.
“Even in routine cases, judges have an important and sometimes decisive influence on practice,” notes Daniel Richman, a law professor at Columbia University.
Aileen Cannon will determine which material elements can be presented to jurors. In this file, one of Donald Trump’s lawyers might be tempted to exclude the damning notes taken on the fly in the name of professional secrecy.
He will also set a schedule for preliminary hearings and a trial that could return Donald Trump after the November 2024 presidential election, when he is a candidate. According to Daniel Richman, “even an experienced judge would find it difficult to push him to stand before the polls.”
Finally, he oversees the selection of jurors who must reach a unanimous verdict.
For all these reasons, many voices told him to renounce himself. Andrew Weissman, a former federal prosecutor who investigated suspicions of collusion between Donald Trump and Moscow in 2016 on MSNBC, said “his impartiality can be questioned.”
For now, the Magistrate seems to want to keep the file which has already gone through some formalities.
Whatever her behavior, eventually, she will be disgraced, notes Thomas Holbrooke.
“Once he decides against the former president, no matter what he says by name, he will be seen as a traitor by Republican supporters,” he said. “On the contrary, if he decides in favor of Trump, it will fuel the impression that the justice system is corrupt. ยป
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