Judge in Trump’s classified documents proceedings declined requests that she leave case

The judge in former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case, Judge Aileen Cannon, declined private requests from two federal judges that she step aside from the case after she was assigned to it last year.

Two more experienced South Florida judges told her it would be best if she passed the case on, but Cannon chose to remain in charge of the proceedings, according to The New York Times.

The judges, including Southern District of Florida Chief Judge Cecilia Altonago, approached Cannon after she was assigned the case in June last year.

Cannon’s assignment to the case prompted concerns regarding her limited trial experience and that she had previously intervened in the criminal investigation that led to Trump’s indictment in a way that appeared to favor the former president. Her intervention was subsequently reversed by a conservative appeals court.

Lawyers who work in the Southern District of Florida has said that Cannon has broken with general practice to delegate some pretrial motions to a magistrate, according to The Times. In this case, that would be Judge Bruce Reinhart, who’s subordinate to Cannon but has more experience. Reinhart signed off on the 2022 FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago to recover classified documents from Trump’s residence and private club.

Cannon has since appeared combative against prosecutors, been slow to take care of pretrial motions, and put the trial on hold despite that both sides said they could be ready to begin proceedings this summer.

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