Cannon
If
you
were
worried
that
Judge
Aileen
Cannon
might
someday
surprise
everyone
by
rediscovering
the
concept
of
judicial
independence,
congratulations,
today
is
not
that
day.
In
a
move
that
will
shock
exactly
no
one
who
has
watched
Cannon’s
extremely
online
career
arc,
the
Trump-appointed
judge
permanently
blocked
the
release
of
the
special
counsel
report
authored
by
Jack
Smith
in
the
classified
documents
case.
The
reason?
According
to
Cannon,
disclosure
is
barred
“due
to
the
unlawful
appointment
of
Special
Counsel
Smith
and
Attorney
General
Bondi’s
deliberative-process
determination.”
Cannon,
you’ll
recall,
showed her
whole
ass as
a partisan
hack willing
to
do the
bidding of
Donald
Trump,
but
her lack
of
experience and chaotic
courtroom
management are
just
as noteworthy.
But
she
really
upped
her
status
as
“favorite
judge
of
the
most
aggressively
red-hatted
MAGA
crowd”
when
she
dismissed
the
criminal
case
against
Trump.
Her
theory
—
that
Smith’s
appointment
as
special
counsel
was
unconstitutional
—
was…
creative.
So
creative,
in
fact,
that
it
flew
directly
into
conflict
with
decades
of
precedent.
But
after
Trump
won
the
2024
election,
the
DOJ
dropped
the
appeal.
Fast-forward
to
today’s
ruling.
Cannon
writes
that
releasing
Volume
II
of
Smith’s
report
(the
portion
addressing
the
classified
documents)
will
stay
behind
Cannon’s
ever-expanding
shield
of
judicial
paternalism
as
it
would
cause
“manifest
injustice”
to
the
former
defendants
because
Smith,
“acting
without
lawful
authority,”
obtained
an
indictment
that
was
ultimately
dismissed.
Originally,
Cannon
justified
blocking
release
because
appeals
were
pending
for
Trump’s
co-defendants
Walt
Nauta
and
Carlos
De
Oliveira.
Then
Trump
took
over
the
DOJ,
those
cases
evaporated,
and
Cannon’s
excuse
went
with
them.
American
Oversight
and
the
Knight
First
Amendment
Institute
sought
to
intervene
and
asked
for
the
report
to
be
released.
Cannon
responded
by
doing
absolutely
nothing
—
for
a
really
long
time.
Like,
the
Eleventh
Circuit
had
to
get
all
“undue
delay”
to
get
her
to
work.
Cannon
did
what
any
aspiring
MAGA
judicial
influencer
would
do
and
invited
the
parties
to
seek
“appropriate
relief.”
You
can
probably
guess
what
happened
next.
Trump,
through
a
personal
lawyer,
filed
a
motion
asking
Cannon
to
permanently
block
release
of
the
report.
The
DOJ
—
that
is,
Trump’s
personal
law
firm
—
helpfully
chimed
in
to
say
it
agreed
the
report
shouldn’t
be
released
outside
the
department.
Nauta
and
De
Oliveira
went
even
further,
asking
Cannon
to
order
that
all
copies
of
the
report
be
destroyed…
which,
even
Cannon
declined
to
go
that
far.
Growth!
Cannon’s
ruling
locks
the
report
away,
insulating
Trump
from
the
political
and
historical
consequences
of
a
prosecution
that
never
quite
made
it
to
trial.
All
because
rather
than
act
as
a
“check”
or
“balance”
to
executive
authority,
Aileen
Cannon
uses
her
federal
judgeship
to
give
an
assist
to
her
benefactor.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].