How Trump legal pundits who praised Merchan are now blasting Cannon

Judge Aileen Cannon is facing growing accusations of bias from the same legal experts who cheered Judge Juan Merchan, whose rulings consistently favored the Democratic prosecutors who secured former President Donald Trump’s conviction in the hush money case.

Cannon’s decision to allow hearings on a number of challenges from Trump’s defense team in the classified documents case against him, rather than reject those challenges outright, has enraged many legal commentators. They accuse Cannon of giving Trump favorable treatment, sometimes by citing the fact that the former president appointed her to her position.

But the legal punditry had far fewer concerns about the appearance of favorable treatment Merchan displayed toward Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who charged Trump with 34 felonies related to a years-old hush money arrangement using a novel legal theory. And Merchan had the additional baggage of his small donation to President Joe Biden and the political work his daughter performed for Democrats fundraising off of Trump’s criminal cases.