{"id":2282419,"date":"2024-06-24T05:14:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T09:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-trump-legal-pundits-who-praised-merchan-are-now-blasting-cannon-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-06-24T05:19:39","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T09:19:39","slug":"how-trump-legal-pundits-who-praised-merchan-are-now-blasting-cannon-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-trump-legal-pundits-who-praised-merchan-are-now-blasting-cannon-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"How Trump legal pundits who praised Merchan are now blasting Cannon &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-trump-legal-pundits-who-praised-merchan-are-now-blasting-cannon-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2282419&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Judge Aileen Cannon\u2063 has been accused of\u200d bias in handling the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doj-asks-supreme-court-to-reject-trump-request-in-fbi-classified-documents-case\/\" title=\"DOJ Asks Supreme Court to Reject Trump Request in FBI Classified Documents Case\">classified documents case<\/a> against former President Donald Trump, especially for \u2064not outright rejecting challenges \u200dfrom \u200bTrump&#8217;s defense team. Critics suggest her decisions may be\u2063 influenced by her appointment by Trump himself.\u2064 Meanwhile, Judge Juan Merchan, who oversaw Trump&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-big-problem-with-the-stormy-daniels-hush-money-case-against-trump\/\" title=\"The Big Problem With The Stormy Daniels Hush Money Case Against Trump\">hush money case<\/a> and favored the prosecution,\u2062 received more positive reviews from legal experts despite potential conflicts like donations to \u2063Democrats. Cannon&#8217;s decisions to delay the \u2063trial over procedural issues and\u2062 consider various pretrial motions have been \u2063criticized, but also seen as \u200bnecessary by some due to \u2062the complex nature of the case \u2064involving classified information.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Judge Aileen Cannon is facing growing accusations of bias from the same legal experts who cheered Judge Juan Merchan, whose rulings consistently favored the Democratic prosecutors who secured former President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Donald Trump\">Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s conviction in the hush money case.<\/p>\n<p>Cannon\u2019s decision to allow hearings on a number of challenges from Trump\u2019s defense team in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/classified-documents\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"classified documents\">classified documents<\/a> case against him, rather than reject those challenges outright, has enraged many legal commentators. They accuse Cannon of giving Trump favorable treatment, sometimes by citing the fact that the former president appointed her to her position.<\/p>\n<p>But the legal punditry had far fewer concerns about the appearance of favorable treatment Merchan displayed toward Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who charged Trump with 34 felonies related to a years-old hush money arrangement using a novel legal theory. And Merchan had the additional baggage of his small <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/1109820\/donald-trump-arrest-judge-overseeing-case-donated-to-biden-and-democrats-in-2020\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"donation to President Joe Biden\">donation to President Joe Biden<\/a> and the political work his daughter performed for Democrats fundraising off of Trump\u2019s criminal cases.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of Merchan\u2019s rulings were appallingly biased \u2014 down to the last one in which the jury was not required to reach a unanimous finding on the most critical issue in the trial (namely, the supposed unlawful conduct that Trump was allegedly trying to conceal in allegedly falsifying his business records),\u201d Andrew McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>. \u201cBy contrast, Cannon\u2019s conduct of the trial is being spun as if it\u2019s biased, but it\u2019s clearly not.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Judge Juan Merchan poses for a picture in his chambers, Thursday, March 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo\/Seth Wenig)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Merchan received generally glowing reviews from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/universities-race-based-hiring-policies-are-present-injustices-meant-to-fix-past-ones\/\" title=\"Universities\u2019 Race-Based Hiring Policies Are Present Injustices Meant To Fix Past Ones\">prominent legal experts<\/a> during the weekslong trial in New York over Trump\u2019s hush money case.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew Weissman, a former top prosecutor on the Russia investigation, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/top-mueller-prosecutor-declares-man-crush-judge-overseeing-ny-v-trump-trial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"said\">said<\/a> last month that he has a \u201cman crush\u201d on Merchan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is such a great judge that it\u2019s hard to see that the jurors wouldn\u2019t have the same impression,\u201d Weissman said during an appearance on MSNBC last month. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you looked in a dictionary for judicial temperament, that\u2019s what you would get,\u201d Weissman said of Merchan. \u201cIt is just such an impeccably fair trial.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Weissman has had far harsher words for Cannon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is just truly a disgrace that she is not doing her job,\u201d Weissman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kSBY0kFvqgI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"said\">said<\/a> last month. He said Cannon\u2019s recent decision to set aside the initial start date of the trial in order to weigh pretrial motions was \u201ca testament to, at the very least, incompetence and, some might say, much worse than that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A trio of left-leaning legal experts praised Merchan for keeping Trump on a \u201ctight leash\u201d during jury selection.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn Merchan\u2019s courtroom, our country\u2019s bedrock principle that no one is above the law is flourishing,\u201d Norm Eisen, a top lawyer for House Democrats during their 2020 Trump impeachment trial, Jacob Kovacs-Goodman, attorney for State Democracy Defenders Fund, and Francois Barrilleaux, research assistant at State Democracy Defenders Action, wrote in an opinion <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/opinion\/msnbc-opinion\/judge-merchan-trial-trump-accountability-rcna148406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"piece\">piece<\/a> for MSNBC in April.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, Eisen <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NormEisen\/status\/1797255031617475048\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"said\">said<\/a> Merchan \u201cdid a brilliant &#038; scrupulously fair job of judging\u201d in Trump\u2019s hush money case. <\/p>\n<p>But Eisen <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NormEisen\/status\/1788292747503268155\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"called\">called<\/a> Cannon\u2019s handling of Trump\u2019s classified documents case \u201catrocious.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of these decisions are bizarre enough that you have to wonder if she doesn\u2019t have a bias toward the president who appointed her, Donald Trump,\u201d Eisen said during an appearance in May on CNN. \u201cI think that it all constitutes a conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>McCarthy blamed special counsel Jack Smith\u2019s aggressive indictment, not Cannon\u2019s rulings, for the delays in the case. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe trial does not have a trial date because Smith overcharged it \u2014 he could have brought a straightforward obstruction case. Instead, he larded the indictment with three dozen classified-information counts,\u201d McCarthy said.<\/p>\n<p>Doing so introduced requirements that have bogged down the proceedings. Both sides have had to contend with the Classified Information Procedures Act, which, McCarthy noted, forces the court to \u201crule on the admissibility of all potential classified evidence prior to trial \u2014 and appeal is permitted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other issues outside Cannon\u2019s control have surfaced as well. Smith acknowledged in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/67490070\/522\/united-states-v-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"filing\">filing<\/a> in May that the FBI had not maintained all the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fbi-unit-leading-mar-a-lago-probe-also-ran-discredited-trump-russia-investigation\/\" title=\"FBI Unit Leading Mar-a-Lago Probe Also Ran Discredited Trump-Russia Investigation\">documents agents seized<\/a> from Trump\u2019s home in the same order in which they were found, allowing Trump\u2019s lawyers to challenge the integrity of the evidence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Smith had done what a number of analysts recommended and simply indicted a grand-jury obstruction case, he would not be mired in CIPA litigation,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cIn an obstruction case, the contents of the classified documents would not matter. The issue would strictly be whether Trump knowingly refused to turn over documents that physically bore classified markings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere was no need to do Espionage Act charges \u2014 much less three dozen of them,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Critics have said Cannon should have ruled swiftly against Trump on a range of issues that she has opted instead to consider, such as whether the special counsel can admit testimony from Trump\u2019s former attorney after prosecutors used a legal maneuver to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/5-key-takeaways-from-clinton-lawyer-michael-sussmanns-latest-attempt-to-get-criminal-charges-dismissed\/\" title=\"5 Key Takeaways From Clinton Lawyer Michael Sussmann\u2019s Latest Attempt To Get Criminal Charges Dismissed\">pierce attorney-client privilege<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>But Cannon has also rejected some of Trump\u2019s motions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCannon has ruled in Smith\u2019s favor on a number of issues, including refusing to dismiss the indictment on various grounds advanced by Trump. The criticism of her for not setting a trial date is ridiculous,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cShe had a trial date, May 20, which turned out to be entirely unrealistic due to the classified information and other issues. Rather than set another illusory date, she made an aggressive schedule to try to get through much of the pretrial work, which was not easy because Trump has a right to be present at these proceedings but was on trial for six weeks in Manhattan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, Cannon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3053691\/trump-attorneys-jack-smith-unlawfully-made-special-counsel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"heard arguments\">heard arguments<\/a> over whether Attorney General Merrick Garland lawfully appointed Smith as special counsel. She will address additional pretrial arguments during hearings scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, including whether to toss the testimony from Trump\u2019s former lawyer.<\/p>\n<p>Merchan rejected many of the challenges raised by Trump\u2019s team throughout the hush money trial. For example, he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/daily-memo\/2993414\/when-the-judge-gags-a-key-witness-for-trumps-defense\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"barred the defense\">barred the defense<\/a> from calling what would have been its star witness: a former Federal Election Commission chair who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/daily-memo\/3011093\/brad-smith-what-i-would-have-told-trump-jury\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"planned to testify\">planned to testify<\/a> about the campaign finance law at the heart of the case. Merchan permitted prosecutors to elicit sexually graphic testimony from Stormy Daniels, the porn star who received the hush money payment in question, and dismissed the Trump team\u2019s requests for a mistrial over the irrelevant testimony.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That Cannon has not similarly complied with Smith\u2019s demands that the case proceed to trial before November has made her a target of prominent lawyers.<\/p>\n<p>Ty Cobb, a former Trump White House lawyer turned Trump critic, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2024\/06\/21\/politics\/video\/judge-aileen-cannon-trump-documents-case-cobb-digvid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"called\">called<\/a> Cannon a \u201cpetty, partisan prima donna\u201d and accused her of slow-walking the classified documents case to help Trump.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re way beyond the point of characterizing her merely as inexperienced,\u201d Cobb said during an appearance on CNN this week. \u201cThe reality is, she is slow, and she\u2019s slow on purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fact that she doesn\u2019t deny most of these motions without a hearing is silly,\u201d Cobb said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Judge Aileen Cannon is under scrutiny for alleged bias, contrasting with Judge Juan Merchan, who was praised despite favoring Democratic prosecutors in Trump\u2019s hush money case conviction. Cannon permitted several hearings on challenges from Trump\u2019s defense regarding classified documents<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2775,"featured_media":2282420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Merchan-Cannon-composite.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[5397,32374,32375,3634,32076],"class_list":["post-2282419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-cannon","tag-legal-pundits","tag-merchan","tag-trump","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Merchan-Cannon-composite.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2282419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2775"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2282419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2282419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2282420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2282419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2282419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2282419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}