A Trump-appointed federal judge has repeatedly snapped at the former president’s attorneys during confidential document hearings, allaying fears she was giving him an easy job.
US District Judge Aileen Cannon has overseen the case against the former president for his alleged handling of classified documents.
Despite being nominated by the former president to serve as a South Florida district judge in 2020, Judge Cannon reportedly snapped at Trump’s attorneys.
The New York Times reported that during a two-hour pre-trial hearing earlier this week, she fired back at one of his attorneys and said, “That’s not my question,” after he made a “debauched reply” to one of her questions.
The outlet also reported that she frequently urged his legal team to “frame the very novel questions” as to why she should delay the trial.
Judge Cannon (left) is said to have shot the former president’s legal team (right) during a pretrial conference earlier this week
In this court sketch, attorney Todd Blanche stands as he pleads not guilty on behalf of former President Donald Trump (second from right) last month
Judge Cannon also reportedly nodded as prosecutors argued that Trump should not be treated any differently than any other citizen.
She also warned the defense team, “I don’t want any delays,” before setting a hearing date for the case in May on Friday.
Prosecutors had wanted the trial to take place in December, after the 2024 presidential election for which he is running.
But Cannon said Tuesday that she felt the timeline for a trial involving classified material was too “compressed.”
The move was taken as another sign that the judge will treat the man who appointed her as objectively as any other defendant.
By May, Trump — who is well ahead of other GOP contenders for 2024 in the first primary — could be the likely Republican Party presidential nominee.
It will be unprecedented for a former president and presidential candidate to stand trial.
Trump also said this week that he expects to be indicted again by Special Counsel Jack Smith on allegations related to the 2020 election and January 6th.
Last month, Trump appeared in federal court in Miami and pleaded not guilty to 37 counts related to the improper handling of classified materials, including willfully withholding national defense information and making false testimonies.
The case, which Smith is handling, began after Trump refused to return classified documents he took from the White House to his home and private club Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
A photo of boxes of White House documents kept in a bathroom in Mar-a-Lago that were part of Trump’s federal indictment
Trump is said to have kept boxes of documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, as pictured here
In an interview with Fox’s Bret Baier last month, Trump said he’d been “very busy” which is why he didn’t return the documents.
“Before I send boxes, I have to take out all my stuff.” Inside those boxes were all kinds of things – golf shirts, clothes, pants, shoes – there were a lot of things,” the ex-president explained.
Trump also claimed that “everything was declassified” that he had in his possession.
The case may depend on Trump’s taped admission that he knew the information he had was confidential and that he never released it.
In late June, CNN received an audio clip referenced in the indictment. In it, the former president shows people a document that he says is “strictly confidential” and contains “secret information” about Iran.
The former president is pictured here in a sketch of a courtroom alongside his counsel Walt Nauta and attorneys Chris Kise and Todd Blanche in Miami last month
In the audio recording, Trump is heard saying that the Pentagon and military officials “presented this to me — this is confidential — but they presented this to me.”
“This totally wins my case, you know? Unless it’s strictly confidential. Secret. “This is classified information,” Trump is heard saying in the leaked clip.
The indictment listed as attending the meeting Trump, two of his associates, a writer and a publisher who were working on the memoirs of former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
The rustling of papers can be heard several times during the two-minute clip.
“By the way, isn’t that incredible?” Trump also said. “These are the papers. That was made by the military and given to me.’
“Look, as President, I could have declassified it. Now I can’t, you know,” he added, noting how “interesting” and “cool” it was.