A judge Donald Trump appointed to the federal bench during his presidency has been assigned to oversee the classified documents criminal case in which the former president faces several felony charges, a move that’s left some social media users feeling less than hopeful.
News first broke of Trump’s charges Friday after the unsealed, 49-page indictment was released. It reveals that Trump allegedly mishandled classified documents at his Florida estate. He faces 37 federal counts alongside his aide and valet, Walt Nauta.
The charges against Trump are connected to willful retention of national defense information – a charge related to the Espionage Act – as well as conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in an investigation, scheming to conceal, and false statements.
He shares a few counts with Nauta.
The case has been initially assigned to Judge Aileen M. Cannon, a former federal prosecutor handpicked by Trump to be a federal judge in Florida in 2019. It’s a move that some fear might benefit Trump down the line. Cannon has issued favorable rulings in previous cases that have involved the former president.
In 2022, she granted Trump’s request for an independent review of the classified material FBI agents first seized from his estate, intervening in the Justice Department’s investigation and halting federal agents’ access to the documents. Later on, her order was dismissed by a federal appeals court, the independent review.
Many online aren’t thrilled about Cannon’s appointment and the possibility of Trump receiving special treatment in a federal case.
Someone else on Twitter called Cannon “just another Trumper that lets him get away with crimes!”
Another user added that Cannon should recuse herself adding, “How can it be that…
Read the full article here