
Judge Aileen Cannon to entertain Trump’s claim the special counsel is unlawful in Friday hearing
CNN
One day after it was reported that two federal judges urged her not to take the classified documents case against Donald Trump, Judge Aileen Cannon will begin three days of hearings that could determine the future of the charges against the former president.
One day after it was reported that two federal judges urged her not to take the classified documents case against Donald Trump, Judge Aileen Cannon will begin three days of hearings that could determine the future of the charges against the former president. Trump is arguing that Jack Smith – who has brought charges against Trump in Florida and Washington, DC – was unlawfully appointed as special counsel. At the center of Trump’s argument is the claim that the Attorney General Merrick Garland does not have legal authority to appoint someone as special counsel who hasn’t confirmed by the Senate. The Justice Department says the attorney general has ample authority to appoint “inferior officers,” which would include special counsels. Trump’s attempt to nullify the special counsel’s office’s work is an anomaly among recent efforts from other defendants in different federal courts to do the same, because Cannon is giving far more time to weigh the challenge than other judges have in recent years. The judge will allow for several hours of questioning about the authority of the special counsel’s office, which is at work in federal court cases around the country, as Republican-led attacks of the Justice Department’s special counsel appointments gain steam on Capitol Hill and in legal circles. The hearing in the Fort Pierce courtroom where Cannon presides is just the start of a three-day excursion into legal arguments around the case, including over prosecutors’ request for a gag order against Trump as well as an argument that the special counsel is being unlawfully funded.

Jeffrey Epstein survivors are slamming the Justice Department’s partial release of the Epstein files that began last Friday, contending that contrary to what is mandated by law, the department’s disclosures so far have been incomplete and improperly redacted — and challenging for the survivors to navigate as they search for information about their own cases.

The Providence mayor wants the Reddit tipster to get a $50,000 FBI reward. It might not be so simple
His detailed tip helped lead investigators to the gunman behind the deadly Brown University shooting – but whether the tipster known only as “John” will ever receive the $50,000 reward offered by the FBI is still an open question.











