Donald Trump's campaign is considering the judge who threw out his classified documents case for attorney general in a possible second term, according to a new report from ABC News.
The outlet reviewed a document titled "Transition Planning: Legal Principals" that listed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon second behind former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton for the position. Per ABC, the document was put together by Trump's team with help from his close legal adviser Boris Epshteyn.
Cannon was appointed to her role in the Southern District of Florida by Trump in 2020. She threw out Special Counsel Jack Smith's classified documents case against Trump in July, saying that Smith's appointment to his role overseeing the cases against Trump was unconstitutional.
Smith appealed that decision to a higher court that has overturned two earlier Cannon decisions in the classified documents case. In his appeal, the special counsel noted a precedent stretching all the way back to U.S. v. Nixon that allowed the Department of Justice to appoint special prosecutors to investigate presidents. Smith wrote that “every court to consider the question” has come down on the side of allowing the attorney general to bypass the standard appointment process in such cases.
In response to a post on X calling the potential appointment an obvious case of quid pro quo, MSNBC legal analyst Jill Wine-Banks called the move by Trump's team "insane."
It’s insane. https://t.co/XPXbLPH1Qc
— Jill Wine-Banks (now on Threads as jillwinebanks) (@JillWineBanks) October 23, 2024
