Judge Aileen Cannon assigned Trump's Mar-a-Lago case: Report

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Judge Aileen Cannon and Mar-a-Lago affidavit

On the left, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon speaks during her confirmation hearing. The affidavit supporting the search warrant for Mar-a-Lago is on the right. (Image of Judge Cannon via U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee; Photo Illustration of Mar-a-Lago affidavit by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The Donald Trump-appointed judge who named a special master and wrongly blocked the Department of Justice from investigating the former president has reportedly been assigned to preside over the historic Mar-a-Lago classified documents criminal case. That’s according to reports from ABC and the New York Times, citing people familiar with matter and the summons sent to Trump’s legal team.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon is the jurist that a panel of Republican-appointed judges on U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit found “improperly” ruled in Trump’s favor by deferring to his attorney-client/executive privilege claims and his status as a former president — appointing a special master and blocking the feds from continuing their probe after Mar-a-Lago had already been searched.

“The law is clear. We cannot write a rule that allows any subject of a search warrant to block government investigations after the execution of the warrant. Nor can we write a rule that allows only former presidents to do so. Either approach would be a radical reordering of our caselaw limiting the federal courts’ involvement in criminal investigations,” the 11th Circuit ruled in December 2022, tossing the civil case. “And both would violate bedrock separation-of-powers limitations. Accordingly, we agree with the government that the district court improperly exercised equitable jurisdiction, and that dismissal of the entire proceeding is required.”

Judge Cannon and U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart’s names reportedly appeared on the summons as the judges handling the criminal case. That may simply be because of their involvement in the related (but dismissed) civil matter. Irrespective of intentional or random assignment, though, it’s also possible — as legal observers have noted — that the DOJ could gun for Cannon’s recusal.

2/Altho a judge’s behavior in court generally doesn’t form the basis for recusal, the 11th Circuit has ordered “reassignment” where a judge leans so heavily for a defendant they call their objectivity in the eyes of the public into question. This is from US v. Martin pic.twitter.com/7jGLqJpaL9

— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) June 9, 2023

4/It is not clear Cannon is permanently assigned to the case. If she is, it’s extremely unlikely it stays with her and as a last resort, DOJ will challenge her participation and win.

— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) June 9, 2023

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