The conservative 11th Circuit did exactly what it had to do, and what I predicted it would do. It concluded that Judge Cannon had no jurisdiction to interfere with the Justice Department’s handling of the materials that were lawfully seized from Mar-a-Lago.

The court’s reasoning was straightforward and would certainly be upheld by the Supreme Court swiftly if Trump were to appeal, which he seems all but certain to do if only to buy time.

But the Circuit Court’s stinging rebuke of the loose Cannon means she has fully earned that title.

The essence of the appellate panel’s reasoning was that the system of criminal justice would be at the mercy of defendants who could throw one monkey wrench after another into the gears if Cannon’s jurisdiction were upheld here — unless a special rule were made for Donald J. Trump, simply because he had been President of the United States. But the panel rightly concluded that nobody is above the law. It made that slogan into a reality today — a reality we can all celebrate. All, that is, except those who are ready to tear down the law in order to protect one man.