The judge went on to schedule almost a dozen further hearings and deadlines for lawyers until July on Tuesday. Declaring, in reference to the Classified Information Procedures Act, “myriad and interconnected pre-trial and CIPA issues,” she intended to address a variety of pre-trial and CIPA issues.
Given Cannon’s prior connection with the previous president, legal experts and political strategists contacted by Business Insider stated that her decision wasn’t shocking. “There is a high likelihood the case will get pushed out past the election,” said Katie Charleston, an attorney specializing in litigation and appeals. “Judge Cannon reversing her own decision today,” she said. Should this scenario unfold? Trump could potentially avoid the trial entirely if elected president in November. He might also see the cases brought against him by the Justice Department dismissed.
The former president faces a total of 37 charges, including 31 alleged violations of the Espionage Act for “willful retention of national defense information” related to his handling of classified documents taken to his Mar-a-Lago club. Trump has pleaded not guilty.
Cannon’s decisions under scrutiny
Previously, Cannon ruled that the classified document should undergo review by a special master. However, this decision was overturned by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Additionally, Cannon initially declined the special counsel’s request to conceal the names of potential witnesses in the case, but she recently agreed to redact the witness names. However, she stated that witness statements would be disclosed in pretrial motions.
Critics of Cannon have questioned whether her favoritism toward Trump stems from bias, inexperience, or “analysis paralysis,” as noted by CNN’s chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid. Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, remarked, “Judge Cannon has ruled in Trump’s favor at almost every possible turn, so I’m not surprised that she delayed the trial indefinitely. She is inexperienced and seems in over her head. She’s made a number of bizarre rulings that aren’t supported by logic or the law, and she has already been overturned by the 11th Circuit multiple times.”
Rahmani emphasized that the delay is a victory for Trump, particularly amid another trial and the ongoing presidential campaign, labeling this ruling “yet another win for Trump in South Florida.”
According to CNN, Ty Cobb, a former Trump White House attorney, characterized the judge’s recent decision as “a combination of bias and incompetence.” He stated, “I think it was always her objective, frankly, to prevent this from going to trial.”
Doron Kalir, a professor at Cleveland State University College of Law, echoed similar sentiments, describing Trump’s legal strategy in his four criminal cases as “delay, delay, delay.”