Judge ignored calls to decline Trump documents case
Aileen Cannon, who will oversee the former president's case, was appointed by Trump himself in late 2020


What happened
Aileen Cannon, the federal judge overseeing Donald Trump's classified documents case, rejected requests from two other Florida judges that she step down from the Trump case and allow a more experienced jurist with less baggage to step in instead, The New York Times said Thursday.
Who said what
Cannon, appointed by Trump in late 2020, was approached last year by two "more experienced colleagues on the federal bench in Florida" who encouraged her to "consider whether it would be better if she were to decline the high-profile case," the Times said. Cannon has "scant trial experience and had previously shown unusual favor to Mr. Trump."
"For context," said Steve Benen at MSNBC, one of the jurists who approached Cannon was Cecilia Altonaga, the chief judge in the Southern District of Florida and a George W. Bush appointee. Altonaga reportedly told Cannon it would look bad to accept the case after a conservative appellate panel had forcefully reversed her decision to side with Trump in a pre-indictment challenge. Overall, her "supervision of the case has alarmed legal experts on both sides of the aisle," The Hill said.
What next?
Cannon is "not subject to the authority of her district court elders" and can ignore their advice, the Times said. She has "indefinitely postponed the trial" even though prosecutors and Trump's lawyers "had told her they could be ready to start this summer."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
US inflation jumps as Trump tariffs 'bite'
Speed Read Consumer prices are climbing and the inflation rate rose to its highest level in four months
-
Melania Trump's intervention on Ukraine
In The Spotlight The first lady has been linked to the president's U-turn on sending arms to Kyiv
-
Big, beautiful bill: Supercharging ICE
Feature With billions in new funding, ICE is set to expand its force of agents and build detention camps capable of holding more than 100,000 people
-
Deportations: Citizens could be next
Feature the Trump is expanding denaturalization efforts, targeting naturalized citizens and birthright citizenship
-
Ukraine: Trump's mixed messages
Feature Trump reverses a Pentagon freeze on Patriot missiles to Ukraine as Russia ramps up air attacks
-
Supreme Court: Ceding more power to Trump?
Feature SCOTUS has given Trump a victory by ending nationwide injunctions, limiting judges' power to block presidential orders
-
The Pam Bondi and Dan Bongino schism threatens Trump's DOJ
In the Spotlight Two MAGA partisans find themselves on either end of a growing scandal over Jeffrey Epstein and his ties to White House officials
-
Secret Service 'failures' on Trump shooting
Speed Read Two new reports detail security breakdowns that led to attempts on the president's life