Aileen Cannon Hasn’t Yet Decided If She’s Gonna Just Throw the Documents Case in Trump’s Favor

Tuesday was a big day for Donald Trump, legally speaking. In the morning, we learned that special counsel Jack Smith had informed him that he is officially a target of the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, which means he will likely be indicted for a third—yes, third!—time. And in the afternoon, his attorneys and federal prosecutors met in court for a hearing with Judge Aileen Cannon to discuss, among other things, the scheduling of his classified-documents trial. That might sound like a not-very-interesting administration proceeding, but it was highly anticipated thanks to the fact that (1) Trump recently asked Cannon to delay the trial until after the 2024 election, in the clear hopes of securing a second term and then making his federal legal problems magically go away, and (2) many people are worried that the Trump-appointed judge will do the ex-president him a solid, yet again.

So, what did Cannon decide? So, far not much of anything:

Obviously, it’s not great that Cannon “seemed skeptical” of the government’s request to go to trial in December, but the fact that she didn’t automatically grant Team Trump’s demand to wait until after the election suggests that maybe we can hold out some small glimmer of hope that Trump will not be able to make this case just disappear. (According to Alan Feuer, a reporter for The New York Times, “Cannon said she would file a written order promptly.”)

While it would be nice if Cannon did not ultimately accede to Trump’s demands, as many noted on Tuesday, the judge’s decision matters slightly less now that we know the former president will likely be indicted in Smith’s other case, and face trial in another judge’s courtroom. “If Cannon caves to Trump’s demands not to set ANY trial date, she now can’t single-handedly prevent a federal trial before Election Day,” MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin tweeted. “The federal judges in DC have handled [hundreds] of 1/6 cases rapidly—and his should be no exception.”

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