When a certain judge was chosen to preside over Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case involving the confidential papers against former President Trump, an uproar erupted.
Trump’s nomination of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to serve on the bench has drawn criticism for prior rulings related to the case of the documents. Specifically, a ruling in support of the request made by Trump to obtain a special master to sort through privileged documents the FBI took from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida was struck down through a federal appeals court.
Even though the Miami Herald stated that Magistrate Justice Jonathan Goodman will preside over Trump’s anticipated arraignment in Miami this week and oversee bail procedures, Cannon remained involved in the case as of the time of publication.
The former president was charged by a federal grand jury this past week on 37 charges, including alleged breaches of the Espionage Act. Trump maintains his innocence and charges that he is the target of a “witch hunt” as he seeks the presidency once more. Trump assistant Walt Nauta was also charged with a crime related to the materials.
The Southern District of Florida’s top clerk of the federal court stated to the NY Times that Cannon was chosen at random and that “normal guidelines were followed” when assigning the case to her.
In April 2020, Trump declared his intention to nominate Cannon to be a federal judge. She was working as an assistant US lawyer at the time in Florida’s Southern District. The White House stated that after receiving a magna cum laude from the University of Michigan Legal School, Cannon also worked as a legal clerk for Judge Steven Colloton on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. With 23 senators abstaining from voting, the Senate supported Cannon’s nomination by a vote of 56-21.
Cannon has rendered some decisions during just a couple of years on the bench that have generated news coverage unconnected to Trump and his management of papers after leaving office.
In April 2022, Cannon sentenced a man by the name of Paul Hoeffer to 18 months in jail for making murder threats against the then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Chicago state prosecutor Kim Foxx. According to The Palm Beach Post, a federal attorney had pushed for Hoeffer to get a sentence of over three and a half years. Another instance was Cannon’s decision to sentence an ex-police officer to 26 years in federal prison for attempting to solicit sex from a minor adolescent boy.
But Cannon’s previous involvement regarding the Trump documents case, which was highlighted by a panel of members of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversing her special master ruling in December, has sparked discussion about whether the judge is going to be impartial in a position to help dictate things like jury selection and evidence.
