Senior Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are raising concerns about what role Trump-appointed federal judge Aileen Cannon will have in handling the case the Department of Justice is bringing against former President Trump.
Cannon, a member of the conservative Federalist Society who was confirmed to sit on the district court for the Southern District of Florida shortly after the 2020 election, made headlines last year when she ruled that an independent arbiter must review the 13,000 government records seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in August.
Her decision was later struck down by a three-judge panel made up from members of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Trump was indicted last week on 37 federal counts that accused him of violating the Espionage Act and conspiring to obstruct justice.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Cannon’s record overseeing the federal investigation of Trump’s handling of top-secret documents raises serious questions about her neutrality.
“I am concerned. She was a Trump appointee, she was overruled by the appellate court in one of her earlier rulings, she’s back in charge of this case again. This is an historic case,” Durbin told reporters.
“I still hope that she really does her very best to be neutral and a good judge,” he said.
Durbin stopped short of calling on Cannon to recuse herself but warned she could impact Trump’s case in the Southern District of Florida in various ways.
“That’s really up to her,” he said when asked about her recusal.
He said she will have significant influence over “the timing of the case” and “motions” related to discovery and “how you build your case.”
“We have investigations underway in Chicago that have gone on for months and years. So timing is one of the most important things,” he said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), another Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said Cannon’s “record is a cause for real concern.”
“She has to overcome the presumption arising from her past rulings that she somehow favors the president who appointed her, former President Donald Trump,” he said. “There’s a lot here for ordinary Americans, not to mention cynics, to doubt in the record of this judge, but she can overcome it by being fair, impartial and straightforward, which I hope she will be.”
Blumenthal went further than Durbin, calling on Cannon to recuse herself.
“In the total scheme of things, I’d advise her to recuse, because I think that she starts behind in light of her previous rulings, which have been rejected soundly by the court of appeals,” he added.
Cannon won’t preside over the preliminary hearing in Miami on Tuesday afternoon, where Trump will be arraigned.
Magistrate judge Jonathan Goodman will handle some procedural matters while Cannon, who was selected at random, will preside over the trial.