Aileen
Cannon
Judge
Aileen
Cannon
really
wanted
to
rid
herself
of
the
criminal
case
involving
her
professional
patron
Donald
Trump
lifting
boxes
and
boxes
of
classified
documents
of
profound
interest
to
America’s
adversaries
and
tossing
them
in
front
of
his
toilet
when
he
wasn’t
waving
them
around
in
front
of
random
visitors.
So,
armed
with
a
bonkers
concurrence
from
Justice
Clarence
Thomas
—
that
even
Sam
Alito
thought
amounted
to
an
Appeal
to
Heaven
too
far
—
Cannon
hammered
out
nearly
100
pages
of
gloop
about
how
special
counsels
can’t
be
real
because
the
history
and
tradition
of
the
Appointments
Clause
trumped
the
actual
lived
history
and
tradition
of
special
counsels.
Whatever.
Cannon
has
long
identified
as
an
Originalist,
and
the
first
rule
of
Originalism
is
that
actual
history
is
for
suckers.
It’s
why
they’ve
created
a
whole
cottage
industry
of
publishing
flimsy
“alternative
facts”-based
history
in
student-edited
journals
for
judges
to
cite
when
peer-reviewed
scholarship
doesn’t
live
up
to
right-wing
fan
fiction.
But
a
lot
of
the
public
might
not
grasp
how
divorced
“Originalism”
is
from
a
serious
intellectual
effort
to
understand
the
“original”
history
behind
the
Constitution.
Cannon
is,
also,
one
of
several
conservative
federal
judges
who
suck
up
luxury
vacations
funded
by
right-wing
groups
and
then
fail
to
disclose
these
gifts.
And
despite
being
called
out
for
this,
Cannon
has
done
it
again,
with
ProPublica
identifying
another
conservative
junket
that
she
managed
to
not
put
on
her
forms.
But
this
paragraph
jumped
out:
Cannon’s
annual
disclosure
form
for
2023,
which
was
due
in
May
and
offers
another
chance
to
report
gifts
and
reimbursements
from
outside
parties,
has
yet
to
be
posted.
(Cannon
reported
the
two
Montana
trips
on
her
annual
disclosure
forms,
but
the
required
30-day
privately
funded
seminar
reports
had
not
been
posted.
In
2021,
Cannon
incorrectly
listed
the
school
as
“George
Madison
University.”)
Who
can
forget
Founding
Father
George
Madison?
Cannon
intends,
of
course,
to
reference
George
Mason,
the
anti-Federalist
whose
work
inspired
the
Bill
of
Rights
and
whose
name
graces
the
university
attempting
to
posture
itself
as
a
right-wing
outpost
—
complete
with
accepting
a
sketchy
donation
to
rename
its
law
school
ASS
Law
in
an
unwittingly
appropriate
homage
to
Antonin
Scalia.
As
opposed
to
James
Madison,
the
Federalist
Papers
contributor
and
president
whose
name
graces
the
university
that
won
the
Sun
Belt
conference
to
get
into
March
Madness.
This
might
seem
like
a
nitpick,
and
in
a
sense
it
is.
Madisonian
malapropisms
are
understandable.
But
on
the
other
hand,
someone
who
cites
Framers
as
a
source
of
second-hand
credibility
probably
should
take
care
to
never
betray
even
the
hint
that
all
that
talk
about
divining
meaning
from
a
deep
and
thorough
mastery
of
the
Founding
might
be,
you
know,
disingenuous
bullshit.
Judge
Aileen
Cannon
Failed
to
Disclose
a
Right-Wing
Junket
[ProPublica]
Earlier:
Aileen
Cannon
Dismisses
Trump
Classified
Documents
Case
Supreme
Court
Justices
Aren’t
The
Only
Ones
Failing
To
Report
Lavish
Trips
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
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questions,
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Follow
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Joe
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