• News & Politics
  • Culture
  • Food
  • Science & Health
  • Money
  • Life Stories
  • Video
  • Reviews
    • Lifestyle
      • The New Sober Boom
      • Getting Hooked on Quitting
    • Education
      • Liberal Arts Cuts Are Dangerous
      • Is College Necessary?
    • Finance
      • Dying Parents Costing Millennials Dear
      • Gen Z Investing In Le Creuset
    • Crypto
      • Investing
        • SEC vs Celebrity Crypto Promoters
        • 'Dark' Personalities Drawn to BTC
Profile Log In/Sign Up Saved Articles Go Ad-Free Logout
subscribe
Help keep Salon independent
Newsletter
Profile Login/Sign Up
Saved Articles Go Ad-Free Logout
  • News & Politics
  • Culture
  • Food
salon logo
  • Science & Health
  • Money
  • Video

"Very odd": Legal experts criticize Judge Cannon's order for "legitimizing" Trump's delay tactics

Cannon rejected DOJ's motion for protective order — because Trump's lawyers "weren't interested in engaging"

By Tatyana Tandanpolie

Staff Reporter

Published July 19, 2023 12:48PM (EDT)

Donald Trump (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Donald Trump (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
--

Shares

Facebook
Twitter
Reddit
Email

Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed federal district court judge overseeing the Justice Department's documents case against the former president, denied the special counsel's motion for a protective order in the case Wednesday because the defense and the prosecution have not conferred sufficiently.

According to the Guardian and the Independent, Cannon told the Department of Justice that it can refile the motion for the protective order, required under section three of the Classified Information Procedures Act, once it has adequately conferred with attorneys for Trump and the personal aide charged alongside him, Walt Nauta.

The CIPA governs the use of classified materials during a case with section three requiring the court — at the government's request — to issue an order "to protect against the disclosure of any classified information disclosed by the United States to any defendant in any criminal case."

Related

Experts: Jack Smith's latest move means Trump can't use Judge Cannon to prevent pre-election trial

The DOJ reached out to the defense Friday regarding the proposed protective order but filed the motion Monday after not receiving any engagement from them that day or over the weekend, Bloomberg News reports. In the Wednesday hearing, Cannon told the DOJ that it needed to give Trump and Nauta's legal teams more time to negotiate the terms for handling the sensitive materials.

Legal experts decried Cannon's decision Wednesday, arguing that the move substantiates the efforts to delay the trial being made by Trump's legal team, who the Guardian reported "weren't interested in engaging" with the Justice Department to confer.

We need your help to stay independent

Subscribe today to support Salon's progressive journalism

"This is a bad call by Cannon! The DOJ attempted to confer with defense counsel and didn't hear back from them. This is on defense counsel, not DOJ. Cannon should hold defense counsels' feet to the fire [fire emoji], and not delay CIPA proceedings because of the BS gamesmanship," MSNBC legal analyst Katie Phang wrote on Twitter, calling it "another assist by Cannon that unnecessarily delays the proceedings."

Former federal prosecutor Brandon Van Grack, who served on special counsel Bob Mueller's team, said it was "very odd to deny the motion" instead of "requiring defense counsel to articulate objections."

"On Monday, DOJ explained it had reached out to defense counsel on Friday, who did not wish to confer that day or over the weekend. Defense counsel cant get classified docs w/o a protective order," he wrote on Twitter Wednesday.


Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.


"This adds more delay," legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti tweeted. 

"Oy. When one side does not meet, it is hard to confer," added former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, another Mueller probe alum and NYU law professor. "This legitimizes defense delay tactic."

Read more

about the documents case

  • Expert: Hearing shows Judge Cannon "learned from her prior blunder" — which could be bad for Trump
  • Legal expert: Trump may be "overplaying his hand" — and it may get Judge Cannon "taken off the case"
  • "Very telling": Experts say Trump filing to delay trial is a test of Judge Cannon's "favoritism"

By Tatyana Tandanpolie

Tatyana Tandanpolie is a staff reporter at Salon. Born and raised in central Ohio, she moved to New York City in 2018 to pursue degrees in Journalism and Africana Studies at New York University. She is currently based in her home state and has previously written for local Columbus publications, including Columbus Monthly, CityScene Magazine and The Columbus Dispatch.

MORE FROM Tatyana Tandanpolie


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Aggregate Aileen Cannon Donald Trump Jack Smith Mar-a-lago Politics

Related Articles


Advertisement:
  • Home
  • About
  • Staff
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Service
  • Archive
  • Go Ad Free

Copyright © 2025 Salon.com, LLC. Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. SALON ® is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark of Salon.com, LLC. Associated Press articles: Copyright © 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


DMCA Policy