Aileen Cannon is "playing with fire" in her reluctance to impose a gag order on Donald Trump, an attorney has said.
Speaking on MSNBC's Inside With Jen Psaki on Sunday, legal analyst Andrew Weissmann said that there was a major contrast between Cannon and Judge Juan Merchan, who placed a gag order on Trump in the former president's hush money trial in New York.
Trump is facing 40 federal charges in Cannon's court over his alleged handling of sensitive materials seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, after leaving the White House in January 2021. He is also accused of obstructing efforts by federal authorities to retrieve them. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Separately, Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was convicted in Merchan's court on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to adult film actor Stormy Daniels in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. He remains under a gag order in that case until he is sentenced on July 11.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's attorney and Cannon's office for comment on Monday.
Prosecutors want Cannon, a Trump appointee, to impose a gag order on the former president for falsely claiming that the FBI was instructed to shoot him if necessary while conducting a raid at Mar-a-Lago in August 2022.
The FBI had explained in a search warrant application that the agents who would be searching for classified documents at Mar-a-Lago had been trained to use lethal force. It is a standard declaration that was included in the search warrant application for Joe Biden and thousands of other people.
Weissmann said that Cannon had created an unacceptable delay in imposing a gag order on Trump.
"She is playing with fire. There are two motions pending to do with Trump's statements," he said, contrasting Cannon's actions with those of Merchan.
Merchan has to rule on an application by Trump's lawyers to lift a gag order that prevented Trump from criticizing witnesses or jurors in Trump's hush money case.
Merchan has already fined Trump $10,000 for 10 violations of the gag order.
Cannon is due to hear from prosecutors and Trump's lawyers on Tuesday on the gag order request.
Weissmann said that, unlike Cannon, Merchan understands that Trump's words can put people in "imminent danger."
In contrast, Cannon has been "so cavalier," he said.
Weissmann said that if Cannon rejects the gag order request, prosecutor Jack Smith "will feel obligated to go to the 11th circuit," which is the appeal court overseeing Cannon's court.
He said the 11th circuit "has already overruled her twice in scathing language."
Weissmann added that if she doesn't impose a gag order, it could "really get her in hot water."
"It could not be more serious," he said.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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