emptywheel: Cannon Orders Government to Share Classified Information with Trump's Counsel

[Nevilledog]

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Aileen Cannon Orders Government to Share Classified Information with Trump's Counsel

https://emptywheel.net/2022/09/15/aileen-cannon-orders-government-to-share-classified-information-with-trumps-unclear-counsel/…

Her order and her workflow utterly and completely conflict on this point. And in either case, the order is unprecedented.

emptywheel.net
Aileen Cannon Orders Government to Share Classified Information with Trump's Counsel - emptywheel
Aileen Cannon is now dictating that the government clear Trump's counsel.
4:38 PM · Sep 15, 2022

https://www.emptywheel.net/2022/09/15/aileen-cannon-orders-government-to-share-classified-information-with-trumps-unclear-counsel/


I’ll have a lot more to say about Judge Aileen Cannon’s order blowing off National Security in favor of Trump’s half-assed claims of being a victim. Her order is a radical assault on national security and rule of law.

But for the moment, I want to look at this part of her work flow order.

Make available for inspection by Plaintiff’s counsel, with controlled access conditions (including necessary clearance requirements) and under the supervision of the Special Master, the documents marked as classified and the papers attached to such documents; and

It orders the government to make the classified documents stolen by Trump available to his attorneys, including Evan Corcoran, who is either a witness or a subject of this investigation. None are known to be cleared. Aside from Jim Trusty, it’s not clear how quickly any of them can be cleared.

In her order, she claims this involves sharing only with the Special Master, Raymond Dearie.

The Government also presents the argument, in passing, that making the full scope of the seized materials available to the Special Master would itself create irreparable harm [ECF No. 69 p. 18]. Insofar as the Government argues that disclosure to a Special Master of documents marked as classified necessarily creates an irreparable injury because the special master process in this case is unnecessary, the Court disagrees for the reasons previously stated. Separately, to the extent the Government appears to suggest that it would suffer independent irreparable harm from review of the documents by the Court’s designee with appropriate clearances and controlled access, that argument is meritless

But these are completely contradictory. One document says the government must share classified information with Trump’s people. The other document says, “it’s only Raymond Dearie, don’t worry your little heads.”

And she just waves her hands and says the government must share this stuff, “including necessary clearance requirements,” without acknowledging that she doesn’t get to decide that. If the government says that none of Trump’s lawyers can be cleared, they get to say that (again, I expect fewer concerns about Trusty, but major concerns about Corcoran).

That’s par for the course of this order.

*the end*

[VMA131Marine]

1. Cannon is making it up as she goes along.

It’s clear that she was appointed specifically to be Trump’s judge.

[choie]

2. How can trump's lawyers

review classified documents when they don't have clearance to do so?

[Nevilledog]

3. Exactly

[Baitball Blogger]

5. This is frightening.

She's bought or totally out of her league.

[Nevilledog]

6. Evil and dumb.

[lindysalsagal]

7. Oh, sure. Allow a bunch of civilian "lawyers" top secret docs

They probably can't even understand. That's treason.

[gab13by13]

8. They better not give the lawyer the clearance.

Corcoran was actually the lawyer who wrote the document that Babb signed.

[ultralite001]

9. Wrong on too many levels to count...

That is all...

[kacekwl]

10. For gods sake just do

what any Republican would do and ignore it. Continue the investigation and tell the corrupt judge to F off.

[wishstar]

11. Surely order allowing Trump's lawyers to look at all the classified docs won't stand up to appeal

It's one thing for Special Master Dearie who has security clearances already to look at everything but totally outrageous and unworkable to order that Trump's lawyers have full access. That's nuts and I'm sure never before allowed in any case involving such documents with national security concerns.