Florida judge faces criticism following order in Trump case
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon is facing sharp criticism following her decision this week to grant a request by former President Donald Trump's legal team for an independent arbiter to review documents obtained during an FBI search of his Florida property last month.
Cannon on Monday authorized an outside legal expert to review the records taken during the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago as part of a probe into Trump's inappropriate retention of sensitive material from the White House. The expert would have power to weed out any material that might be protected by claims of attorney-client privilege or executive privilege.
The order came over the strenuous objections of the Justice Department, which said a so-called special master was not necessary in part because officials had already completed their review of potentially privileged documents.
The move was cheered by Trump supporters seeking a check on the government's probe. But others say Cannon gave undue deference to the former president and unnecessarily put on hold certain investigative work by the Justice Department. They say she has slowed the momentum of the federal investigation into possible Espionage Act violations.
The Justice Department has not indicated whether it will appeal, though there are reasons why it might not be eager to do so, including out of concern that it could delay the investigation further or produce case law that it finds unfavorable for future probes, said Brandon Fox, a Los Angeles defense attorney and former federal prosecutor.
Regardless, he said, Cannon’s opinion creates a perception of “two systems of justice.”
“The criminal justice system is set up to try to make sure that everybody is accountable in the same way for alleged crimes they have...