Monica Lewinsky has joined many liberals in calling for Judge Aileen Cannon to be impeached over her handling of the case involving classified documents from Donald Trump’s home.
Cannon was the source of anger and confusion among Trump critics after she made rulings in the case that was overturned and failed to get the case on track before the November election.
The 50-year-old former White House intern and activist joined those critics, demanding in a social media tirade that Trump appointee Cannon be ousted.
“I got angry about the Florida document case,” she wrote. “It is INSANE that there has not been a trial yet, and I hope Judge Cannon is impeached,” she wrote.
Cannon recently appeared to side with prosecutors when Trump lawyers raised problems with the order that justified the FBI’s investigation into Mar-a-Lago.
Monica Lewinsky has joined many liberals in calling for Judge Aileen Cannon to be impeached over her handling of the case involving classified documents from Donald Trump’s home.
“If the documents had been declassified (which they weren’t), then all Trump had to do was xerox them and send back the originals that were requested and explain that they had been declassified (again, for those in the back, which wasn’t the case),” Lewinsky continued.
Cannon recently postponed a May trial date and has not scheduled another, increasing the likelihood that Trump will not appear in court in his secret documents case before the November election.
The lengthy tirade continued, with Lewinsky furious about Cannon’s actions, which she said were to Trump’s benefit.
“IF it was an honest (ahem) mistake to take them…just give them back – LIKE EVERY OTHER PRESIDENT WHO WAS CLASSIFIED TO HAVE BROUGHT MATERIALS INTO THEIR PRIVATE POSSESSION. (which would still warrant an investigation, but may not have led to a trial. The danger and damage this judge has caused is mind-numbing’
Lewinsky famously had an affair with President Bill Clinton from 1995 to 1997, and their relationship began when she was a 22-year-old unpaid White House intern. It ultimately led to his impeachment.
On August 17, 1998, after several denials, the former president appeared on television and finally admitted that he was “solely and completely responsible” for the relationship.
The affair and its fallout became known as the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal.
She has since returned to public life over the past decade, with a television show about the affair involving her.
Cannon was the source of anger and confusion among Trump critics after she issued rulings in the case that was overturned and failed to get it on track before the November election.
Cannon recently postponed a May trial date and has not scheduled another one, increasing the likelihood that Trump will not stand trial in his classified documents case before the November election.
Lewinsky has largely been an activist on behalf of liberal and feminist causes.
Trump was indicted in June 2023 and accused of illegally withholding national security documents from his Florida club.
Not long after, two senior federal judges asked Cannon, who was assigned the case, to step aside New York Times reported Thursday, citing her limited trial experience and statements that helped the defense.
Judge Cannon was confirmed by the Senate in November 2020, weeks before Trump left office, and had limited experience in the complex area of national security law and classified documents. Her Fort Pierce courtroom, unlike the federal courthouse in southern Miami, was not equipped with a secure document-processing facility.
Among those urging her to distance herself from the case were Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga, chief judge of the Southern District of Florida, a George W. Bush-appointed judge who ruled the first female Cuban-American federal judge.
Prosecutors, led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, successfully got a Court of Appeals panel to reverse its order preventing the government from using classified documents seized during its investigation of the former president made. It agreed with the DOJ’s assertion that “the district court likely erred in the exercise of its jurisdiction.”
Federal judges like Cannon decide for themselves whether to dismiss a case or not.
The conflicts and filings in the courts have become increasingly heated, with Smith’s team calling a Trump legal theory “pure fiction” and Cannon criticizing Smith’s prosecutors for demanding a quick decision “unprecedented and unjust.”
Trump has blasted the case, federal prosecutors and FBI agents who searched Mar-a-Lago. If he were elected president, he could use his authority to try to close the case
A year ago, experts identified the Florida case as the biggest threat to Trump. It is now highly unlikely that a trial will take place before the November election
The information about the peer pressure, which Cannon resisted, comes after the classified documents case — once the most serious legal threat Trump faces — has little chance of going to trial before Trump faces a jury.
In May, Cannon accused Smith of making a “bad faith” request to impose a gag order on Trump following his claim that the FBI had the authority to shoot him during a search of Mar-a-Lago. She ruled against Smith, saying federal prosecutors failed to show “professional courtesy” when they consulted with attorneys just before the start of the Memorial Day weekend.
Also in May, she postponed the trial indefinitely. The start was scheduled for May 20.