Former President Donald Trump spoke out Thursday against the dangers to personal safety, and democracy, that arise when criminal court judges are publicly targeted by powerful people.
Trump — who has been hit with gag orders from three judges who said his character attacks triggered a barrage of violence threats against them and others — was condemning the Justice Department and President Joe Biden, whom he accused of harassing Judge Aileen Cannon.
"Crooked Joe Biden and his crew of Hacks and Thugs, led by Merrick Garland and Deranged Jack Smith, are working overtime to try to illegally intimidate and harass respected Federal Judge Aileen Cannon," Trump declared.
"They are calling her terrible names, wrongfully threatening her with Impeachment, and disrespecting her, all because they want her to act like the dishonest, politically biased, and conflicted Judges in New York."
The former president did not provide any specifics about the context of these accusations and Raw Story was unable to find any recent instance of Biden or the U.S. Attorney General speaking publicly about Cannon, the Trump-appointed judge overseeing his classified documents case.
Smith does not appear to have spoken out against Cannon publicly, but in court filings submitted earlier this month, the special counsel made the argument that Cannon was pursuing a “fundamentally flawed legal premise" in regards to jury instructions.
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Cannon has shot back at Smith, calling his demands for a timely ruling "unprecedented and unjust.”
"These Persecutors are using Third World tactics in a corrupt ploy to 'play the ref,'" Trump declared. "The Weaponization of Law Enforcement, the Harassment of Fair Judges, and rampant Election Interference cannot be allowed to continue."
Trump's habit of publicly discussing his four ongoing criminal court cases and his $464 million civil fraud trial has led to gag orders issued by Judges Juan Merchan, Arthur Engoron and Tanya Chutkan.
Trump's accusations of political bias against Merchan — overseeing his upcoming hush money trial in New York City — raised fears for the judge's daughter's safety and were described by one former prosecutor as a possible crime.
Both Engoron, Trump's civil court judge, in his fraud trial, and Chutkan, the judge overseeing his federal election interference case, have received violent death threats linked to the former president's cases.
Cannon has also been the target of criticism from legal experts who raise the specter of political bias and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals that twice reversed her rulings in the case.
"Judge Cannon seemed to view the jury instructions side show as a way of winking and nodding at Trump about the future of his defense once the case went to trial," former prosecutor Joyce Vance wrote of a recent decision.
"It’s possible to imagine that language will come back to haunt her, when the Eleventh Circuit ultimately looks at this situation—because that moment is inevitably coming—and decides whose position here has been unprecedented and unjust."
