Judge Aileen Cannon refused to enforce a routine deadline in the Mar-a-Lago stolen documents case, which means it won’t go to trial before the 2024 election. Her pandering to defendant Donald Trump’s best interests is a clear-cut example of her working for the defense.
Anyone who has been following the Mar-a-Lago documents case is familiar with Judge Cannon’s blatant favoritism for Trump. The question is, what should be done about it?
“I think it is time for a House Democrat to introduce an impeachment resolution against Aileen Cannon. She is operating as a lawyer for Trump, not as an impartial judge. Of course, it would fail, but it will put a spotlight on her treachery,” Emeritus scholar at the conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute Norm Ornstein wrote above a post about Judge Aileen Cannon’s midnight ruling.
Ornstein is also, most importantly on this matter, an expert on the United States Congress.
In light of the fact that House Republicans are currently trying to impeach President Joe Biden for reasons yet unknown with no evidence or even suggestion of behavior warranting an impeachment inquiry, as well as members of his administration just because they don’t like Biden’s policies — you knows, the policies the voters chose — impeachment as a political weapon is becoming a thing.
This is being done by House Republicans on purpose as electoral help for Donald Trump in the upcoming election, in order to conflate the absolutely necessary two impeachments of Donald Trump with these toothless, politically-motivated impeachment noises over Biden family members repaying loans.
The impeachment fan fic Republicans are creating from your tax dollars and selling for political purposes are undermining the rule of law, much as the person they are meant to help has done since he descended that golden escalator in June of 2015 to announce his candidacy.
Yet, an impeachment proceeding against Judge Cannon, which will not happen, would actually be an attempt to steer the country back to the rule of law.
Introducing a resolution of impeachment against her would no doubt open Democrats to more accusations from Republicans that they are politically motivated, but more importantly, would certainly give the U.S. media the “both sides” red meat for which it lives and on which it thrives.
However, it might be time for Democrats to stop worrying about how the media is going to equivocate for anti-democracy forces because those who know already know, and those who don’t aren’t watching cable news or paying to read The New York Times anyway.
With social media, Democrats can get their message out to voters and if they dared, they could pull exactly what Republicans have for so many years by forcing the media to dance for them in order to appear.
Of course, that wouldn’t be good for democracy in the long run — and certainly, Democrats shouldn’t operate like Republicans. But when you’re in a war with authoritarians, adhering to the rules and thinking they will save you is a fatal mistake. The rules only exist to be weaponized against democracy by authoritarians. As Judge Cannon is demonstrating so well, the law is weaponized to only apply to opponents in a country that is engaged in democratic backsliding.
An impeachment resolution against Cannon would serve the same purpose as the impeachments of Donald Trump: A point of reference that this is not okay. An official objection to her abuse of the justice system. A warning that House Republicans have a very slim majority.
Democrats have started to demonstrate unexpected adeptness at battling these anti-democracy forces primarily found in the Republican Party, far-right and far-left. It’s a big fight, but it’s either going to happen or the country will just give in to the Dictator-in-Waiting.
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