Last week, after Fox News host Laura Ingraham beat up his new attorney, Donald Trump teased that a “major motion pertaining to the Fourth Amendment will soon be filed concerning the illegal Break-In of my home.” On Monday his lawyers filed a lawsuit against the federal government that was deemed “incompetent” by well-respected attorneys, with one calling it “shitty on every level.”
Late Tuesday afternoon the judge assigned to the case appeared to agree.
“In a brief order on Tuesday afternoon, U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon signaled some confusion about the motion Trump’s attorneys filed on Monday asking for an outsider to sift through materials the FBI seized from Trump’s home and resort in Palm Beach, Fla., earlier this month pursuant to a search warrant,” Politico reports.
Politico’s Kyle Cheney on social media adds, “Judge Aileen Cannon responds to Trump lawsuit re: FBI search with a list of more questions for Trump’s team about what, precisely, they’re asking for.”
He attached a screenshot of the judge’s order, which reads in part, “on or before August 26, 2022, Plaintiff shall file a supplement to the Motion further elaborating on the following: (1) the asserted basis for the exercise of this Court’s jurisdiction, whether legal, equitable/anomalous, or both; (2) the framework applicable to the exercise of such jurisdiction; (3) the precise relief sought, including any request for injunctive relief pending resolution of the Motion; (4) the effect, if any, of the proceeding before Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart; and (5) the status of Plaintiff’s efforts to perfect service on Defendant.”
Apparently mocking the former president, attorney, legal analyst, and MSNBC anchor Katie Phang “translated” the legal-speak into this: “Judge asking Trump: ‘How can you be here? Why are you here? What is this filing? Why aren’t you before the other judge? Have you bothered to comply with the service of process rules?’”
Judge Cannon is a Trump-appointee who is a member of the right wing Federalist Society.
Retired attorney Linda Newman commented, “This would be a failing grad[e] on a first year civil procedure final exam. Subject matter jurisdiction, failure to state a claim, failure to document personal jurisdiction over the defendant.”
Ken White, the attorney who on Monday called the lawsuit “shitty on every level” Tuesday afternoon weighed in on Cannon’s request: “How federal judges say ‘excuse me wtf r u doin’”
Further mocking team Trump, White adds: “This is the kind of order you expect a judge to issue to a pro se litigant if the judge is being very generous.”
“Pro se” means self-representation.
“It is not the sort of order you expect a federal judge to have to issue to lawyers with the possible exception of Lin Wood.”