One of former President Donald Trump’s biggest critics is relishing the possibility of Judge Aileen Cannon throwing out the classified documents case against the ex-president.
Cannon on Thursday presided over a hearing to consider two Trump motions to dismiss the case. Both Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith, whose investigations resulted in dozens of federal felony charges for the ex-president, were in attendance.
The judge, a Trump appointee who has faced an avalanche of criticism over a series of rulings favoring the former president, denied one of Trump’s dismissal motions shortly after the hearing. She has yet to rule on the other motion.
Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, a frequent Trump critic, said during the latest episode of his Justice Matters podcast on Thursday that he “almost hoped” that a motion to dismiss the case against the former president would be granted by Cannon.
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“You don’t often hear this from a former career prosecutor, but I almost hope Aileen Cannon grants Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss the case,” Kirschner said. “Throw out all the charges.”
“Now, that may seem counterintuitive,” he continued. “[But] here’s the thing: Judge Aileen Cannon should not be presiding over this case.”
Kirschner argued that “Judge Cannon’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned,” detailing what he said were “call after call after call she has made in Donald Trump’s favor in the most questionable ways.”
“I almost hope she grants the motion to dismiss and just throws the case out altogether because Jack Smith will appeal that decision and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals very likely would reverse her,” Kirschner said.
Kirschner went on to predict that granting a dismissal motion would also result in the Trump-appointed judge being thrown off the case by the appeals court and replaced with an “impartial judge, one who does not owe their very job … to the defendant.”
Newsweek reached out for comment to Trump’s office via email on Thursday night.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung previously said in a statement to Newsweek that Kirschner is “a notorious trafficker of wild conspiracy theories and dubious legal analysis” who “has been shunned by the legal community at large.”
Cannon on Thursday rejected a motion to dismiss the case based on an assertion that charges against Trump under the Espionage Act are “unconstitutionally vague,” although she left open the possibility of the former president’s attorneys making the same argument later.
A motion for dismissal that argues Trump was allowed to keep any sensitive government documents he wanted following his presidency under the Presidential Records Act was not ruled upon.
The judge has previously faced criticism for decisions that benefit the defense’s delay tactics. The case against Trump, the presumptive GOP 2024 presidential nominee, will almost certainly be dismissed quickly if he wins reelection in November. Trump may also pardon himself if he returns to the White House.
Kirschner concluded his podcast on Thursday by suggesting that Cannon deciding to dismiss the case well before the election would “finally get us to the right result” of a renewed trial with a “fair” judge who would not agree to delays.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.