Experts Have Blamed This Pro-Trump Judge for the Rise in Threats and Violence Against FBI

Judge Aileen Cannon, overseeing Donald Trump's Classified Documents case, has been previously accused of favoring the Republican front-runner by delaying the trial. However, lately, Cannon has been blamed for "encouraging" a growing rise in violent threats against the FBI agents stemming from her decision regarding Special Counsel Jack Smith's request to gag Trump. 

The 78-year-old politician has been vocal about his criticism of FBI agents who had been involved in Mar-a-Lago raids. During the Classified Documents case, he used objectionable remarks against them. A handful of Republican states demanded Judge Cannon to reject the gag order request by Smith so Trump could continue his inflamed speech, per Raw Story. 

However, some experts have outright discredited this request. For instance, Attorney General Merrick Garland condemned Trump for exploiting the routine language used in search warrants during the raids. Meanwhile, MSNBC host Nicole Wallace claimed that the violent attacks against the FBI and Justice Department officials have escalated lately. 

Former federal prosecutor Harry Litman added to this and called out Cannon for "allowing" this to happen, "If you're telling people when federal agents come in to search your house they're coming to shoot you, well, that's exactly what causes, you know, tragedies in searches. But all that Jack Smith has asked for, in a way, this would be no story if it wasn't in front of Judge Cannon." 

Meanwhile, he also said that what Special Counsel Smith and prosecutors did during the search was "so routine, so cut and dried" that none except Judge Aileen could allow Trump's attorneys for such a claim. "This could result in significant, imminent, and foreseeable danger," cautioned Litman. 

In June 2023, Trump was charged with retaining the documents containing national defense information and the US military's attack plans, including US nuclear secrets. Smith's prosecutors said he took those with him while leaving the White House in 2021 after losing the elections to his political rival Joe Biden. 

Naturally, Trump denied any wrongdoing, and in a campaign e-mail sent to the Republican supporters of Trump said FBI agents were "authorized to shoot" the former president and "itching to do the unthinkable" during the Mar-a-Lago raid. Meanwhile, the 2024 presidential hopeful asserted similar claims on his social media platform Truth Social. 

Prosecutors and critics urged Judge Cannon to gag Trump following his attacks on the justice system officials and Smith, who requested an extension of the gag order, is seen as bait by the analysts by which the Special Counsel could remove Cannon from the Classified Documents case, per Newsweek. 

Meanwhile, Judge Cannon once again delayed the case and failed to move it fairly. A retired federal judge appointed by Bill Clinton, Shira Scheindlin, who has previously served as a federal judge for two decades, accused her of "favoritism" toward Trump, " as per NPR. "The thing that stands out to me is what appears to me to be her dislike of the government and her favoritism toward the defense."