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 people 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, some of which he shares with 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.
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.
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 any Judge will hear a case that involves the person who appointed them? Don’t have to be a lawyer to see a definite ‘conflict of interest’ in Trump’s case.”
According to Florida attorney Daniel Uhlfelder, if the government seeks to recuse Cannon and is successful in doing so, the case will likely be transferred to Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks.
Trump failed in a request to Middlebrooks to recuse himself when he was assigned to the former president’s lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, claiming she was part of a conspiracy to connect Trump’s campaign to collusion with Russia. Trump’s attorneys claimed the judge had a relationship with Clinton since he was appointed to the bench by former President Bill Clinton more than 25 years ago. Middlebrooks denied claims he had any relationship with the Clintons, also noting that he never met them.
The indictment alleges that Trump removed dozens of boxes containing classified information from the White House and transported them to Mar-a-Lago. The charging documents also detail instances where he mishandled classified material. Two of those instances took place in separate meetings with a writer and a political action committee representative where Trump allegedly showed them the documents.
In the meeting with the writer at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, Trump disclosed that he knew of a specific “plan of attack” that federal officials had coordinated against him and mentioned the information was secret.
In another meeting with the PAC member, he showed that person “a classified map related to a military operation,” acknowledging he “should not be showing it to the representative and that the representative should not get too close,” according to prosecutors.
The indictment also tracks the boxes’ movement throughout Trump’s Florida estate in 2021. They were initially stored in a ballroom, according to prosecutors, some were moved to a business center on the property, and others had been allegedly transferred to a bathroom. A storage room had been cleaned out in May of that year to house more than 80 boxes, the indictment states. Nauta was also seen on surveillance video removing boxes from Mar-a-Lago.
Federal agents seized 27 documents from Trump’s office — six of which were marked “Top Secret,” 18 of them marked “Secret” and three were marked “Confidential.”
The storage room housed 75 documents, 11 of which were marked “Top Secret,” 36 were marked “Secret” and 28 were marked “Confidential.”
When the investigation first began, and the subpoena against Trump was issued, prosecutors say he took a number of steps to obstruct the probe, including suggesting his lawyer “hide or destroy” the documents sought in the subpoena and telling his attorney to flat-out report to the DOJ that he just didn’t have the documents.
Two of Trump’s former attorneys, Jim Trusty and John Rowley, resigned just hours after news of the indictment began to circulate. Both led his Washington, D.C.-based legal team. He’s now being represented by attorney Todd Blanche.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who has led the months-long investigation into Trump’s misconduct regarding these documents, said he would seek a speedy trial “consistent with the public interest and the rights of the accused.”
Trump has denied any wrongdoing. In an effort to seize the narrative before news of the indictment became widespread, he wrote in a post on his social platform, Truth Social, “I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States.” He added, “I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!” He also attacked Smith in a separate post calling him “deranged” and a “Trump Hater.”
In the days to come, Trump will have to report to a federal courthouse in Miami for his arraignment. In another Truth Social post, he announced his arraignment is at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, June 13.
Trump is the first former president of the United States to face federal charges. He could face jail time if convicted.
This is actually the second indictment against Trump. A grand jury in New York charged Trump for allegedly falsifying business records connected to hush money payments to women who reportedly had sexual affairs with him.
Two other criminal investigations are also brewing against him. Special counsel Smith is also investigating Trump’s involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, and a special inquiry in Georgia is underway examining whether he tried to interfere with the 2020 presidential election in that state.
