When Aileen Cannon was appointed federal judge by then-US President Donald Trump three years ago, little did she know that she would one day preside over his trial.
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However, the judge announced on Friday that beginning May 20, 2024, the first federal criminal trial of a former American president would take place at the heart of his small federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida.
His appointment isn’t for everyone.
Photo AFP / US DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
Donald Trump, candidate for the 2024 presidential election, faces 37 charges, including “unlawful withholding of national security information,” “obstruction of justice,” and “false testimony.”
He is accused of endangering the security of the United States by keeping confidential documents, including military plans or information about nuclear weapons, in a bathroom or storage room at his luxury residence in Mar-a-Lago instead of turning them over to the National Archives.
The former president faces up to 20 years in prison in most cases, which Aileen Cannon will have to decide if the jury finds Donald Trump guilty. In mid-June, he pleaded not guilty.
Additionally, holding the trial in the heart of the Republican primary for the 2024 presidential election will only increase the pressure on the judge.
The trial won’t stop the billionaire from campaigning, but as a defendant he could be forced to attend hearings that could last weeks or even months.
It remains to be seen how Ms Cannon will adjust the hearing schedule to the campaign needs of the man who gave her the job.
Life Position
Will Aileen Cannon be able to withstand this pressure? Those who want Donald Trump to be convicted for his careless handling of White House secrets doubt it.
First, because she has little experience as a judge. The Republican billionaire gave her a lifetime position as a federal judge shortly before her loss in the November 2020 presidential election. She was only 38 at the time, three in a law firm and seven in a Florida federal prosecutor’s office.
Notably, the daughter of a Cuban refugee, she is a member of the Federalist Society, a very influential organization in the legal community, which has a voice among elected Republicans and advocates a literal interpretation of the Constitution.
Doubts about her impartiality are also linked to the fact that she has already paid great deference to Donald Trump.
After the FBI searched his luxury club Mar-a-Lago in August 2022, the 70-year-old took legal action to prevent prosecutors from directly examining the documents seized. Judge Cannon had already taken over the file, giving him some reasons, but most importantly highlighting “the extraordinary circumstances” surrounding his previous role.
It had been rejected on appeal by three judges, who had been unusually critical: “If it is indeed extraordinary to have a search warrant for the home of an ex-president, it should in no way call our legal analysis into question,” they wrote in their decision.
“Traitor”
However, the judge will play far more than a ceremonial role.
Judge Aileen Cannon will set the timeline for the preliminary hearings and trial, which will therefore take place in the midst of the presidential campaign, and will decide what physical evidence can be presented to the jury.
For example, she may be tempted, in the name of professional secrecy, to exclude damning notes spontaneously made by an attorney for Donald Trump.
Finally, she will oversee jury selection, which must reach a unanimous verdict.
For all these reasons, several voices urged him to retire. The judge, who doesn’t appear to be thinking about it at the moment, is in a “difficult position,” said Thomas Holbrook, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Whatever her behavior, she will be vilified, he emphasizes: “Whatever she does, she will either fuel existing concerns about her possible bias or disappoint Trump supporters.”