Ty Cobb: Judge Cannon is a 'petty, partisan prima donna'

Former Trump White House attorney Ty Cobb said Thursday that Judge Aileen Cannon is a “partisan, petty prima donna.”

When talking about a Friday hearing on former President Trump challenging special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment in the Mar-a-Lago documents case, Cobb said on CNN’s “OutFront” with anchor Erin Burnett that “the law requires that" Cannon “validate” Smith’s "appointment and not disqualify him."

“The worst thing … could happen to her, is that she actually does rule for Trump on this, because that would go to the 11th Circuit, and then I think this petty, partisan prima donna would be put in her place, and they would remove her,” Cobb said in a clip highlighted by Mediaite.

Cobb criticized Cannon for her work when it comes to motions in the Mar-a-Lago documents case. Cannon is working slowly on the case and has declined to set a trial date until she can get through pretrial motions she faces.

“The fact she doesn’t deny most of these motions without a hearing is silly,” Cobb said. “The fact that Trump can get a hearing on the flimsiest arguments is shocking.”

According to reporting by The New York Times, two judges attempted to get Cannon to hand off the documents case when it was assigned to her a year ago. The requests occurred following Cannon’s handling of the former president’s challenge of a warrant to search his home, as her appointment of a special master was later pushed back against by a higher court.

Democrats have accused Cannon of “slow-walking” the case, with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) stating that she is taking her time on the case “to put it into a position where, should [Trump] be elected, he can order that the investigation and prosecution be terminated.”