Judge Cannon appears skeptical of Trump argument Smith was illegally appointed: Live

Presidential debate historian Alan Schroeder explained to NBC News that a president’s life exists in a “protected bubble.” The first debate takes them outside of that bubble, where they’re forced to face off against a pumped up opponent who’s been itching for a showdown.

Incumbents tend to grow accustomed to the deference they’re shown within the White House, and after four years, they’re in for a rude awakening when their opponent throws punches on the debate stage, Schroeder said, noting that presidents tend not to hear much “conflicting information” during their four years in the “bubble.”

According to the indictment, Trump allegedly attempted to hide boxes of classified documents following a grand jury subpoena that ordered their return.

Trump’s aide Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira were also indicted and have also moved to dismiss the charges against them. All men have pleaded not guilty.

If the former president is convicted, Cannon will be tasked with handing down a sentence to the very man who nominated her to that position.

Trump — who is blocked from publicly attacking witnesses, jurors and other parties in the case, excluding Bragg and Justice Juan Merchan — has asked the judge to lift the gag order entirely, now that the criminal trial has come to an end with guilty verdicts on all 34 counts against him.

In a filing on Friday, Bragg said his office agrees that the gag order can be amended to lift the restrictions against trial witnesses — but that’s as far as he will go.

There is “no basis whatsoever” to let Trump attack attorneys and court staff and their families who are protected under the gag order, according to prosecutors with Bragg’s office.

The US Department of Justice veteran oversaw anti-corruption prosecutions against multiple US politicians in his role as the head of the department’s public integrity section from 2010 to 2015.

One of those cases was against former Virginia governor Robert McDonnell, a Republican against whom he secured a conviction on bribery charges, though the case was later thrown out by the US Supreme Court.

He also won a conviction of former GOP representative Rick Renzi of Arizona, who received a sentence of three years in prison before being pardoned by Trump.

A Harvard Law School graduate, Smith also served in prosecutorial roles in US Attorney offices in the Middle District of Tennessee and the Eastern District of New York.

Donald Trump has declared his “love” for the Ten Commandments and has called for them to be displaye in schools and other places in an all-caps, late-night post on his social media platform, Truth Social.

Louisiana is the only state in the country with such a requirement however it appears that it is one that the former president would like to expand.

Speaking on The All-In Podcast on Thursday, Trump said: “What I want to do, and what I will do, is you graduate from a college, I think you should get automatically, as part of your diploma, a green card to be able to stay in this country.”

That move wouldn’t only apply to graduates of four-year universities either, Trump clarified.

“That includes junior colleges too. Anybody graduates from a college — you go in there for two years or four years. If you graduate, or you get a doctorate degree from a college, you should be able to stay in this country.”

The former president made the comment after one of the podcast’s hosts, investor Jason Calacanis, asked him: “Can you please promise us you will give us more ability to import the best and brightest from around the world to America?”

On Friday, Trump’s attorneys and his allies argued that Smith — who brought federal charges against the former president — was unlawfully appointed as special counsel to prosecutor the Mar-a-Lago case.

Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by Trump, appeared somewhat skeptical of their long-shot arguments.

She also pushed Trump’s attorneys to explain what they meant by saying that Smith’s position amounted to a “shadow government.”

“That sounds very ominous,” she said. “But what do you really mean?”