Former federal prosecutor Katie Phang and ex-RNC chair Michael Steele raised serious allegations of collusion surrounding U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision favoring Donald Trump. On Saturday morning, during an appearance on MSNBC’s “The Weekend,” Phang and Steele suggested that Cannon’s ruling to dismiss obstruction of justice charges against Trump was suspiciously timed to coincide with the Republican National Convention.
Phang, speaking on Steele’s show, criticized Cannon for what she described as a delay in addressing the Department of Justice’s case against Trump, the individual who appointed her to the bench. The judge cited the unconstitutional appointment of special counsel Jack Smith by Attorney General Merrick Garland as grounds for dismissing the charges related to stolen government documents found at Mar-a-Lago. Furthermore, she pointed out the timing of the dismissal.
“Why not dispose of that issue in February? We hear the oral argument including friends of the court which never happens,” said Phang. “This is at the end of June, the beginning of July and then she sits on a 93-page opinion for that long?”
“But the reality is once [Supreme Court Justice] Clarence Thomas gave her the green light to file her dismissal, that is when she did it,” she continued. “And for her to drop that on the first day of the RNC stinks. Something is rotten in Denmark, and I’m going to say it is Aileen Cannon.”
“The timing and handling of Judge Cannon’s decision warrant scrutiny,” Phang asserted. “Why wait until now to issue a 93-page opinion? Oral arguments were held much earlier, including unprecedented involvement from friends of the court.”
Steele echoed Phang’s concerns, emphasizing the perceived coordination behind the judge’s actions. “I am with you on that one because the timing and the process, the level of, you know, coordination is the only word that comes to mind,” Steele remarked during the MSNBC segment.
The discussion, captured in the MSNBC video below, highlights the growing controversy over the impartiality and timing of Judge Cannon’s judicial decisions involving Donald Trump.
