Former White House attorney Ty Cobb predicted that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit could decide to remove Judge Aileen Cannon from the case involving former President Trump's mishandling of classified documents at his estate in Florida. Cobb told CNN that a new filing by special counsel Jack Smith makes clear that Smith could take the case up to the 11th Circuit if Cannon does not rule promptly, The Hill reports. "I think the 11th Circuit will likely take her off the case,” Cobb said. Cannon has instructed both sides in Trump’s documents case to propose jury instructions that would largely take into account Trump’s view of the Presidential Records Act (PRA), the law that dictates how records created during a president’s term must be archived.
Cannon gave the instructions despite failing to consider Trump’s motion to toss the case on those grounds. Smith blasted Cannon for embracing Trump’s “fundamentally flawed legal premise” that the classified documents recovered from his Florida home were his personal property. He called on Cannon to rule on the matter promptly. Cobb noted that the 11th Circuit has rebuked Cannon’s handling of the case, which has been delayed under Cannon. “Her delays here are extraordinary,” he said, noting that it was “remarkable” that Cannon has not yet set a trial date. Cobb pushed back on the idea that Cannon’s actions could be explained simply by inexperience or incompetence, saying, “the evidence of her bias is pretty palpable at this stage of the game.” Trump is largely being prosecuted under the Espionage Act, which prohibits the willful retention of national defense information. He is charged with obstruction of justice for seeking to conceal the records from authorities after they demanded their return.
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