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The judge overseeing Donald Trump's classified documents trial is "harming" the country's national security with her recent ruling, a legal expert said.
Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, made the claim about Judge Aileen Cannon in the wake of her postponing the proceedings, in which Trump has pleaded not guilty to 40 federal charges, for the foreseeable future, and potentially until after the 2024 election in November.
Cannon has been widely criticized by legal experts for indefinitely delaying the start of the classified documents trial while the court settles other legal disputes and hearings related to the proceedings. The decision came after Cannon was frequently commended for decisions in the proceedings that appeared to benefit the former president, with her also facing calls to be recused from the case entirely.
The trial postponement confirmation from Cannon has additional potential benefits for Trump. If the presumptive GOP nominee wins the election against President Joe Biden in November, the Republican could order the Department of Justice to drop the federal classified documents into him if the case hasn't yet been brought to trial.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, McQuade said: "Judge Cannon's unfounded delay in Trump documents case is harming national security.
"What ally would share their intelligence secrets with us, knowing that Trump would regain access soon if elected, with no accountability for breaching their trust?"
McQuade made the remarks while sharing an opinion piece from The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin, which is also highly critical of Cannon, including suggesting the potential historic federal trial may be "too complicated" for her.
"Her latest delay follows a series of widely criticized moves revealing her inexperience," Rubin wrote. "Among the most inexplicable: Demanding a debate on jury instructions (even sillier in retrospect, with a trial postponed indefinitely!) and threatening to reveal witnesses' names, which prosecutors say would endanger them.
"Whether Cannon, nominated to the bench by Trump in 2020, is acting out of bias, incompetence or fear of trying a high-profile case, she has justified the recusal argument that many experts made when she was first assigned."
McQuade is also quoted in the piece, telling Rubin: "I like to presume that judges act in good faith, even when I disagree with their decisions, but Judge Cannon's order postponing the trial indefinitely is truly baffling. It is not only the defense but also the public that has a right to a speedy trial.
Delay causes memories to fade, evidence to go stale, and jury appreciation for the seriousness of the case to diminish. In a case that alleges illegal retention of some of our nation's most sensitive secrets, it feels like judicial malpractice to slow-walk this case the way Judge Cannon has," McQuade added.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, where Cannon is based, has been contacted for comment via email.
Trump has denied all charges concerning allegations he illegally retained classified materials after he left the White House in January 2021, and then obstructed the federal attempts to retrieve them.
The former president has called the federal case "election interference" and an attempt to hinder his chances of winning the 2024 vote.
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About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more