I Wish I Could Say I Was Surprised

Cannon's original order was counter to precedent and exceeded her authority. On its own, that order appeared likely to be reversed on appeal.

But DOJ presented Cannon with narrower issues (e.g. need for a national security assessment) that typically the Executive Branch wins on.

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) September 15, 2022

This sums it up: "Based on the nature of this action, the principles of equity require the Court to consider the specific context at issue, and that consideration is inherently impacted by the position formerly held by Plaintiff."

i.e., former presidents get special treatment.

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) September 15, 2022

Given that Cannon knows an appeal is inevitable, I expected her to moderate her position in response to DOJ's motion.

At the very least, I expected a well-reasoned opinion that seriously grappled with the issues raised by DOJ. This is not that opinion. /end

— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) September 15, 2022

Shorter Judge Cannon: This search is mine. I control it. No one makes a move without my permission.

— Orin Kerr (@OrinKerr) September 16, 2022

I was expecting a “Kneel before Zod” line at the end, but maybe I’m just showing my age.

— Orin Kerr (@OrinKerr) September 16, 2022

Judge Cannon is a partisan hack: she says it is "disputed" that the documents are classified, but Trump never said in court he declassified them and submitted NO evidence, so the only evidence before her is that they are and are so marked. She really is totally in the tank here.

— Andrew Weissmann 🌻 (@AWeissmann_) September 15, 2022

There is ONLY evidence (via affidavit) that these documents are classified. Regardless, they are government doc, not personal ones. (I know I’m repeating what Weissman said, but the judge can’t just invent evidence upon which to base a ruling. This woman doesn’t belong on the bench.)

Conway: This ruling is absolutely a disgrace. And I don't think it's going to take very much to overturn it. Barr told The New York Times that the original motion by Trump's lawyers was a crock of
shit, a crock of shit. This opinion is worse than that.. pic.twitter.com/Y9eHVrQTZ6

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 16, 2022

Another "brilliant" Cannon point: Trump could not be expected to "concretize" his position on the documents as he has not seen the seized docs - without the court ever saying he had them at MAL and in his friggin office for 18 months!

— Andrew Weissmann 🌻 (@AWeissmann_) September 15, 2022

Weissman thinks the special master, a retired federal judge, will straighten things out. But DOJ l’s investigation is frozen in place and they have already promised an appeal. I can’t imagine even the 5th circuit upholding this (nor the Supremes), much less the 11th. 

I’ll be very surprised if this isn’t on appeal tomorrow morning.

So, to sum up:

This woman is a complete idiot. Like, dumb. https://t.co/gsa38eerSb

— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) September 16, 2022