Sep. 7, 2022: Legal world fires at Judge Cannon

Legal pundits have had another day to digest Monday’s confounding opinion from Judge Aileen Cannon.

Recall that the 41-year-old Trump appointee (who was confirmed in the days after the 2020 election) granted the former president’s request to appoint a special master to review the documents taken from Mar-a-Lago, and enjoined the Department of Justice “from reviewing and using the seized materials for investigative purposes.” She ordered the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to continue its damage assessment review of the documents.  

Lawyers are, by definition, a quarrelsome bunch, and members of the pundit bar are especially quick to second-guess any opinions that aren’t theirs. But they are also as ideologically divided as the rest of the country. So it’s notable that while Cannon has had little trouble finding political support for her decision, she has been largely alone when it comes to support for her legal arguments.

And Senate Republicans tried to tamp down the burgeoning feud between Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and NRSC Chair Rick Scott (Fla.) over campaign strategy at a Tuesday meeting, Burgess Everett and Marianne LeVine report. “Republican senators said after the meeting that there was little talk inside McConnell’s leadership suite of a split between Scott and the GOP leader. Still, the divide hung over the Senate’s return like Washington’s steamy early September weather.”

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