A Florida district judge assigned to oversee Donald Trump’s classified documents case is attracting criticism ahead of his court appearance in Miami – given that it was Mr Trump himself who elevated her to the bench three years ago. Unless she chooses to recuse herself, Aileen Cannon, a federal judge with the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, will be placed in charge of the timing and progression of the criminal case as well as rulings on motions brought by the defence and prosecution. If the former president is then convicted, she would also be tasked with handing down a sentence to the very man who nominated her to that position. Mr Trump is charged with 37 felony counts related to the mishandling of presidential records, including highly-sensitive national defence information, since his departure from the White House in January 2021. He has so far insisted that he he is “an innocent man” in angry statements and postings to Truth Social, alleging that he is the victim of “rabid wolves” and the “weaponisation” of the justice system by the “corrupt” Joe Biden administration, even as the indictment revealed photos of boxes of files stacked high in the glitzy ballrooms and bathrooms of his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. Angela Noble, the court’s chief clerk, has insisted that “normal procedures were followed” in assigning Judge Cannon and magistrate judge Bruce Reinhart to the case after their names appeared on Thursday’s summons. However, Judge Cannon has already come under fire for delivering rulings widely considered favourable to Mr Trump over the course of the investigation into the classified documents. After the FBI executed a search warrant in August 2022 to enter Mar-a-Lago and search for classified documents, lawyers for Mr Trump filed a complaint arguing that the search had been illegitimate and unconstitutional. Judge Cannon subsequently issued an order prohibiting the US government from “further review and use of any of the materials” seized from Mar-a-Lago “for criminal investigative purposes”. The ruling attracted concern in legal circles as an unprecedented instance of a federal judge assuming the authority to halt a pre-indictment criminal investigation into a suspect. Her ruling was later reversed by the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. Judge Cannon also last year sided with Mr Trump’s request that an independent special master be appointed to review the documents before they could be examined by the Justice Department, a decision that was branded “deeply flawed” by Mr Trump’s own former attorney general Bill Barr. After appointing special master Raymond Dearie, Judge Cannon then overruled a number of his procedural proposals and sided with Mr Trump’s attorneys on several key points. The appeals court ruled that Judge Cannon had “improperly exercised equitable jurisdiction” and directed her to stand down from the case. Slate legal analyst Mark Joseph Stern called that decision “one of the most humiliating appellate smackdowns in recent history, a total demolition of literally every action that Cannon had taken from the outset of the case”, also labelling the judge “a venal mediocrity”. He also suggested that the “total lack of principle” and “evident incapacity to experience shame” was likely to prove beneficial to Mr Trump once again this summer. Judge Cannon is of American-Cuban descent and was born in Cali, Colombia, in 1981. She was raised in Miami where she attended the Ransom Everglades School, then Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and then the University of Michigan Law School. She clerked for an appellate judge in Iowa for one year after graduating, then worked for the corporate law firm Gibson Dunn in Washington DC, from 2009 to 2012 and then as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of Florida, based out of Fort Pierce, from 2013 to 2020. Following her nomination by Mr Trump, she was confirmed as a federal judge by the US Senate in November 2020 in the dying days of his one-term administration. Her appointment to the bench came just 12 years after she first qualified to practice law, the minimum experience the American Bar Association requires nominees to have. Judge Cannon is a registered Republican, has been a member of the conservative Federalist Society since 2005 and reportedly donated $100 to Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s gubernatorial election campaign in 2018. Read More Trump news – latest: Trump heads to Miami ahead of arraignment as Bill Barr says ex-president is ‘toast’ Trump’s favourability rises in poll despite indictment Jonathan Turley tells Fox News the Trump indictment is ‘extremely damning’ and a ‘hit below the waterline’ Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 26, 2023--

Trials designed to stop players surrounding referees during flashpoint moments could get the green light at a meeting of football’s lawmaking body in London on Tuesday. Tackling poor participant behaviour is a top priority for the International Football Association Board (IFAB) and the PA news agency understands it is set to be the dominant topic at the organisation’s annual business meeting at a Heathrow hotel. Players surrounding referees and assistants after controversial incidents has become a common sight in the modern game, but the IFAB is determined to limit contact in such situations to a respectful dialogue between the referee and the team captain. Precisely how that is achieved is still to be worked out, with the IFAB understood to be keen to run some initial tests in the amateur game to work out the practicalities and iron out the unintended consequences of any new restrictions. One consideration is the creation of a ‘no go zone’ around an official which only a captain can enter, but testing will be required to see how effective and practical this is in reality. Approval of trials in top-level competitions could be granted on Tuesday to follow those initial tests, with lawmakers keen to move quickly on this issue. Sin-bins for bad behaviour, which have been utilised in grassroots youth football, could also be extended into the adult amateur game, while measures to combat mass confrontations between teams, such as cooling down periods, will also be discussed. Guidance could also be issued around stricter application of the existing laws of the game which tackle time-wasting, such as better enforcement of the six-second rule for goalkeepers to release the ball and treatment and assessment of ‘tactical injuries’ designed to break the momentum of the game. In March, the IFAB issued guidance to all competitions on more accurately calculating time lost to stoppages, following on from a concerted effort to do so at last year’s men’s World Cup finals in Qatar. A discussion will also be held on updating the handball law for next season. The law could be changed so that an unintentional handball which denies an obvious goal-scoring opportunity is only sanctioned with a yellow card rather than a red, and that an unintentional handball which stops a promising attack receives no card at all. The IFAB board is also set to receive a short update on the ongoing permanent concussion substitute trial. World players’ union FIFPRO and the World Leagues Forum have previously called for a trial of temporary concussion substitutes, but there is not even the possibility of such a trial taking place until the ongoing testing of permanent concussion substitutes is complete and data from the trial has been fully analysed. The IFAB announced last month that a group had been established to carry out a review of VAR protocols, and there is also expected to be some time given over to hearing an update on the group’s progress. Read More Bruno Fernandes talks up Alejandro Garnacho after stunning goal at Everton Son Heung-min hurt by defeats but ‘very pleased’ with way Tottenham are playing David Seaman pays tribute to ‘great guy’ Terry Venables Football rumours: Victor Osimhen keen on making Chelsea move On this day in 2007: Christine Ohuruogu wins appeal against Olympic ban The sporting weekend in pictures

Oregon officials have identified Jesse Lee Calhoun of Portland, as a person of interest in the deaths of four women that police say are linked, law enforcement sources told The Associated Press. The 38-year-old has not been officially named as a person of interest or charged with any crimes related to the investigation. On Monday, nine different police departments released a joint statement saying the deaths of Kristin Smith, 22; Charity Lynn Perry, 24; Bridget Leann (Ramsay) Webster, 31; and Ashely Real, 22, are linnked. All four women were found either near or on the sides of roads between February and May in the wider Portland area. Authorities have so far been unable to determine the victims’ cause and manner of deaths. Speaking anonymously with local media, officials have said the deaths could be the work of a serial killer. Read More Deaths of four women in Portland linked to person of interest, authorities say Police probe possible connection between deaths of six women in Oregon

Shares are mixed in Asia after a listless day on Wall Street amid a vacuum of market-moving data

Authorities in Colorado are searching for an Indigenous woman who went missing last week on her first night in Denver after relocating to the city.

This week’s new entertainment releases include albums from Lukas Nelson and Kool & The Gang, the return of the silly, witty, Emmy-nominated comedy “What We Do in the Shadows” and Wes Anderson’s stylish and star-studded “Asteroid City” comes to premium video on demand

Profits for Taiwanese tech giant and key Apple supplier Foxconn fell 56 percent in the first quarter, it announced Thursday, a plunge blamed on weakened demand...

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 21, 2023--

Aymeric Laporte media posts social media farewell to Man City ahead of joining Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr.

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