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If former President Donald Trump wins the presidential election in November, he may appoint as attorney general a federal judge who has helped him stave off dozens of charges relating to his improper removal of classified White House documents.
According to a report from ABC News, which cited several sources with knowledge of the situation, Trump’s transition team is considering federal Judge Aileen Cannon — who oversaw the classified documents case involving Trump for over a year until she dismissed it this past summer — to become his attorney general if he wins the presidential election. ABC News was able to view the list of potential candidates, which placed Cannon’s name as second out of a dozen choices.
It’s not uncommon for presidents to select former or even current federal judges to take on that role — current Attorney General Merrick Garland, for example, was still serving as a federal judge before he was appointed by President Joe Biden to serve in his cabinet. But selecting a judge who has had a direct hand in a case involving a president would be rare, if not unprecedented, and an extreme conflict of interest for both, especially considering that the judge rendered rulings in the former president’s favor.
Many legal experts expressed confusion over Cannon’s decision to toss out Trump’s classified documents case, in which she agreed with the former president’s lawyers over their novel arguments that the Department of Justice (DOJ) improperly appointed Jack Smith to be special counsel in the case. Smith’s office is currently in the process of appealing that decision.
Even before that decision, Cannon entertained a number of the Trump legal team’s requests for delays in the case, some of which were appealed and overturned by higher courts.
Cannon has also engaged in ethically questionable behavior, including attending a conservative legal junket in May, just two months before she ordered the classified documents case to be dropped. She did not disclose her attendance at the event publicly, in violation of a judiciary rule that was established nearly two decades ago.
Several commentators lashed out at the idea of Cannon being considered for a role in the Trump administration after rendering several rulings and actions in his favor.
“Judge Aileen Cannon delayed Trump’s trial past the election and ran out the clock for him. She protected Trump every step of the way. She attacked Jack Smith and smeared his role as unconstitutional. Now Trump is considering making her Attorney General. Can you say QUID PRO QUO?!” said political strategist Lindy Li on the social media site X.
Trump’s consideration of Cannon “should be grounds for IMMEDIATE investigation,” legal commentator Tristan Snell said.
The X account for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) also suggested that the classified documents case against Trump should now resume without Cannon.
“Now that Judge Aileen Cannon is reportedly being considered as a potential attorney general in a second Trump administration, it’s even clearer that she can never be impartial in the classified documents case,” CREW said. “She must be removed.”
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