Feels like Judge Aileen Cannon is now trying to get the 11th Circuit to remove her from the Trump trial
As of today it feels like Judge Aileen Cannon is maybe trying to get herself removed from the Trump case. She just improperly disclosed grand jury details that won’t hurt Jack Smith’s case but will make it easy for him to have the 11th circuit reassign the case to another judge.
The timing jumps off the page. Cannon hadn’t made any improper moves in this case. But now that she sees Trump attacking Judge Chutkan, and realizes she’s in for the same if she can’t keep Trump happy, she’s suddenly making a basic error that’ll allow prosecutors to get her removed? Is that supposed to be coincidence?
So why didn’t she just recuse herself if she wants out? Maybe Trump told her she’s not allowed to recuse herself, and so this is her way out.
Or maybe she’s just that stupid. If she’s trying to remain on the case so she can help Trump, she blew that today by handing Smith a way to get rid of her. So she’s certainly not helping Trump with these kinds of stupid wrong moves. She’s making herself less useful to him.
We’ll see what Jack Smith does with it. It’s not as simple as the simplistic rage-tweets you’re seeing like “He must force the 11th Circuit to remove Cannon right this minute!!!!” There are pros and cons, and considerations of what it would do to the trial timeline. Smith has a nuanced decision to make, and if you trust him on the whole, you’ll have to trust that he’ll make the best decision in this instance.
But what Cannon did today did not help Trump at all. Whether by design or through incompetence, she’s made it harder for herself to remain on the case, which by extension hurts Trump’s cause.
