‘Not Persuasive’: Judge Chutkan Shuts Down Aileen Cannon’s Opinion

By: Ava Parker
September 11, 2024
Not particularly persuasive
Federal election obstruction case,
Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing Donald Trump’s federal election obstruction case, suggested that she isn’t inclined to dismiss the case due to concerns about the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith, OKMagazine.com has confirmed.
Not particularly persuasive
Former federal Judge John E. Jones noted that Chutkan dismissed a previous ruling by Judge Aileen Cannon, who had dismissed charges against Trump in a separate classified documents case, as “not particularly persuasive.”
Judge Chutkan
“Judge Chutkan tipped her hand today,” Jones said. “She said that she did not find Judge Cannon’s opinion ‘particularly persuasive.’ That means, in judge-speak, ‘I don’t think it holds water at all.’ I think that was a way to sort of candy-coat it.”
Their arguments
Chutkan’s comments suggest she may not find Cannon’s reasoning compelling, and could potentially allow Trump’s lawyers to present their arguments without the expectation of a dismissal.
Special counsel
“So one thing we can say with assurance after the hearing today is, they can preserve that for appeal if they want to, but I don’t think Judge Chutkan is ever going to toss this thing based on the special counsel being unlawful,” Jones said. “That’s just not going to happen.”
Appeals from the case
Any appeals from the case may ultimately reach the Supreme Court, where opinions on the legality of Smith’s appointment could vary.
The Supreme Court
“There is no way to know for sure what the Supreme Court will say, but given the Supreme Court’s extremely broad view of separation of powers in the Trump immunity case, there is a good chance that the Court will agree with Judge Cannon that the broad unsupervised powers given to Jack Smith are unlawful and that the special counsel regulation is overbroad,” law professor Greg Germain said.