Ryan Routh, the man charged with attempting to assassinate former President Trump at his Florida golf course last month, asked U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Thursday to recuse herself from the case because Trump appointed her and has praised her handling of his classified documents indictment.
Routh’s attorneys said the “unprecedented circumstances” could create an appearance of partiality in the public’s view.
“Mr. Trump is the current Republican candidate for President in next month’s election. On the campaign trail, he has repeatedly praised Your Honor for her rulings in his case,” Routh’s attorneys wrote in the motion.
“As the alleged victim here, he has a significant stake in the outcome of this case too. Were he to become President in the future, he would have authority to nominate Your Honor to a federal judgeship on a higher court were a vacancy to arise,” they continued.
By random selection, Cannon oversees the trial proceedings for both Routh’s criminal prosecution and special counsel Jack Smith’s criminal prosecution of Trump for unlawfully retaining classified documents after leaving office and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them.
Cannon dismissed Trump’s charges in July by ruling that Smith was improperly appointed. Smith is now appealing.
Unlike most of Trump’s other judges, whom he repeatedly attacks on social media and elsewhere, he has heaped praise on Cannon, whom the former president nominated to the bench in 2020.
Routh’s attorneys, noting that Trump is the alleged victim in their client’s case, insisted federal law requires Cannon to recuse.
“By repeatedly and publicly praising this Court by name for its rulings in his case, Mr. Trump has arguably bolstered the perception that the Court is partial in his favor,” Routh’s attorneys wrote.
The motion indicates that federal prosecutors are taking the request under advisement but have not yet taken a position.
Routh is accused of staking out the perimeter of Trump’s West Palm Beach, Fla., golf course last month with a rifle until a Secret Service agent spotted him while the former president was on the course. It marked the second attempt on Trump’s life in recent months.
Routh faces five criminal counts, including attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate and multiple firearm charges. A conviction could carry up to life in prison.