Ex-Mueller prosecutor blames Judge Aileen Cannon after Walt Nauta hearing abruptly derails

Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, who served on special counsel Bob Mueller’s team, leveled blame at Judge Aileen Cannon for the recent “implosion” of a former Trump aide’s hearing. Cannon, the Trump appointee overseeing his Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, abruptly adjourned Walt Nauta’s hearing after Nauta’s attorney was not prepared to move forward in the discussion of issues that were not contained in the government’s briefs. Nauta, a personal aide to Trump, was indicted in the case in June for his alleged role in helping the former obstruct government efforts to recover the classified documents.

The recent hearing was concerning the fact that Nauta’s attorneys could have conflicts of interest, given that they also represented individuals who could be called as witnesses. Prosecutors raised issues that were not included in their brief and Nauta’s attorney was not prepared to discuss them. “Visibly and audibly irritated, Cannon curtly adjourned Nauta’s hearing, promising to issue a scheduling order calling for more briefing and another hearing,” Roger Parloff wrote in a Monday article for Lawfare. “Regrettably, I will have to postpone this. It may require briefing. I admonish the government for wasting the court’s time. I’m disappointed in that. The court is recessed,” Cannon said.

“Woodward protested that he had not had a chance to discuss the issues with Nauta; that the government’s position was wrong on the law; and that he could not properly advise his client until Judge Cannon ruled on whether she accepted the government’s theories,” Parloff wrote. But Weissmann said he had a “slightly different” take. “Judge Cannon ignored thinking about the facts and issues before her, and so was surprised when the [government] raised matters that frankly would be fairly obvious to a more seasoned jurist,” he tweeted. “But the [government] papers [could] have spelled things out more, as well.”