Federal judge Aileen Cannon, reportedly on the coveted list to become attorney general if Trump wins the elections, is under fire and scrutiny for her role in cases involving Donald Trump. This is particularly in line with the FBI case involving classified documents seized from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.
In 2022, Aileen Cannon was the juror in charge of the case involving Trump after the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago estate. Aileen's decisions in the case have been controversial, especially regarding the release of documents and the appointment of the special master to review the materials the FBI seized.
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With the Mar-a-Lago case, lawyers and critics argued that Judge Aileen Cannon wrongfully dismissed Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago case and should have been assigned to a different judge. However, they did not proceed to do that.
Now, Ryan Routh, a 58-year-old convicted felon accused of trying to assassinate Trump while he was golfing, has asked Judge Aileen Cannon to step down from his case.
As Law&Crime reported, Routh pointed out that Trump appointed Cannon as a lifetime judge in 2020. He argued that Trump’s public support for her dismissal of the Mar-a-Lago case and the possibility of her getting a 'promotion' to the U.S. Supreme Court if Trump wins the 2024 election raised questions about whether she could be fair in handling the attempted assassination case.
In response, prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida said the request for the judge to step down was mostly based on guesswork and didn't have enough legal or factual support.
Who is Aileen Cannon?
Aileen Cannon is a federal judge who has been serving in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida since 2020. Last year, she was randomly assigned to handle the high-profile classified documents case involving Trump from a pool of four judges.
Cannon, 43, was born in Colombia and is the daughter of a Cuban exile. She grew up in Miami and has strong ties to the conservative Federalist Society since her law school days. She also clerked for a conservative appeals court judge.
Before becoming a judge, she worked as an assistant U.S. attorney in Florida, focusing on appellate matters. Trump appointed her to a lifetime position on the federal bench in 2020. Since then, she has overseen very few cases, with only four going to trial, all short and straightforward.
A recent review by the New York Times noted that after she was assigned the Trump case last June, two of her more experienced colleagues suggested that she step aside and let another judge take over. They recommended a judge based closer to Miami, where the grand jury that indicted Trump had been sitting, because that court has a secure facility for handling sensitive documents.
Judge Cannon works in Fort Pierce, two hours north of Miami. While there is now a secure facility at her court, it was built at taxpayer expense.
It will be interesting to see what happens to Ryan Routh's request for Aileen Cannon's recusal, especially given the highly volatile political landscape with the 2024 elections inching closer.
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