Bette Midler‘s been on a political hot streak lately, notably when she shared on X the opinion of Illinois human rights lawyer, broadcaster, and writer Qasim Rashid. Rashid’s post referenced Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to dismiss the classified documents case against Donald Trump.
Cannon’s dismissal of the case was announced one day after the attempt on Trump’s life at his Pennsylvania rally. Trump was injured in the shooting, the shooter and one rally attendee were killed, and two other members of the audience were injured. Referring to the classified documents case, Rashid wrote,
Understand what Judge Cannon did. She saw the non-stop media coverage of the shooting, used that distraction to overturn decades of legal precedent without citing a single case in her ruling’s favor, & dismissed Trump’s classified documents case.
In a follow-up comment, Rashid added, in part, ” … Her decision will likely be reversed because it has absolutely zero basis in precedent whatsoever. It is utterly unhinged.”
Midler compared the ruling to a slow-moving train wreck
Bette Midler shared Qasim Rashid’s post and added the caption, “Like a slow moving train wreck, brick by brick they are dismantling these United States. What they don’t realize is what a horrible world they will get when they get what they think they want.”
Midler’s post drew a mixed response, with Trump supporters calling her out in the comments. However, some of Midler’s followers agreed with her. “Trump has always used the justice system as a bully to intimidate others, he has now taken it to another level. With the Supreme Court now a clown show, we are so screwed,” one comment said.
Cannon’s decision and the recent Supreme Court ruling
Judge Cannon justified her decision to dismiss the Trump classified documents case based on a recent Supreme Court ruling regarding presidential immunity. In a footnote to the Supreme Court ruling, Justice Clarence Thomas raised, ” … serious questions,” about “whether the Attorney General has violated that structure by creating an office of the Special Counsel that has not been established by law. Those questions must be answered before this prosecution can proceed,” per CNN.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland of the Justice Department, under the purview of the Executive Branch, and therefore unconstitutional based on what Thomas said, brought the classified document charges against Trump.
“In the end, it seems the Executive’s growing comfort in appointing ‘regulatory’ special counsels in the more recent era has followed an ad hoc pattern with little judicial scrutiny,” Cannon wrote, justifying her decision to dismiss the case. She did not comment, however, on whether Trump violated the law handling classified documents.