Ty Cobb says 11th Circuit may remove judge from Trump documents case

Former White House prosecutor Ty Cobb said Wednesday that the 11th Circuit could finally decide to remove Judge Eileen Cannon from her lawsuit over former President Trump’s mishandling of classified documents at his Florida mansion. I expected it to be sexual.

In an interview on CNN’s “Erin Burnett Outfront,” the former Trump administration official pointed to a recent filing by Special Counsel Jack Smith, saying that if Cannon doesn’t rule immediately, Smith will take the case to the 11th. He said he thought it was clear that the case could go to the circuit.

“Jack Smith, I think today’s filing makes it clear that she has to serve a sentence. If she doesn’t serve a sentence in either scenario, they will send her to the 11th Circuit. You’ll be in a position to take her away.’ And I think the 11th Circuit will probably take her off the case,” Cobb said.

Cannon recently directed both sides in Trump’s docket case to propose jury instructions that primarily take into account Trump’s views on the Presidential Records Act (PRA). The PRA is a law that governs how records created during a president’s term of office are handled and archived thereafter. Mr. Cannon issued the instruction even though he did not consider Mr. Trump’s earlier motion to throw out the case on those grounds.

In a rare direct filing, Smith accepts Trump’s “fundamentally flawed legal premise” that classified documents recovered from his Florida home are somehow his personal property. He blamed Mr. Cannon for this. He called on Cannon to rule on the matter immediately.

Mr. Cobb said the 11th Circuit had previously reprimanded Mr. Cannon for his handling of the case, noting that there had been significant delays under Mr. Cannon.

“Her delays here are extraordinary,” he said, noting that it is “remarkable” that Cannon has not yet set a trial date.

Cobb rejected the idea that Cannon’s so-called missteps could be explained simply by inexperience or incompetence, saying, “The evidence of her bias is pretty clear at this stage of the game.”

“I think the evidence is too overwhelming,” he later added. “I mean, yes, she may be incompetent, but at this stage of the game, her incompetence is so egregious that it clearly creates a perception of favoritism and is trying to put her thumb on the scale. So I think that should disqualify her.”

President Trump is being charged under the Espionage Act, which prohibits the intentional retention of national defense information. He is also charged with obstruction of justice for attempting to conceal records after authorities requested their return.