Petition to Remove Aileen Cannon From Trump Case Signed by Thousands

A petition calling for U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon to recuse herself from Donald Trump's classified documents case, on the basis she is "compromised and indebted" to the former president, has collected more than 43,000 signatures.

Trump is facing 40 criminal charges related to claims he improperly held on to classified material after leaving the White House and obstructed efforts to get them returned. He has pled not guilty to all counts, telling a rally in New Hampshire on October 23 that "I did nothing wrong at all. In fact my boxes were secure and everything was good."

On November 1 Cannon, a Trump appointee, suggested the trial could be delayed beyond its current scheduled start date of May 20 following a request from the 2024 Republican frontrunner's lawyers, commenting: "I'm just having a hard time seeing how realistically this work can be accomplished in this compressed period of time, given the realities that we're facing."

A petition on online campaign website Advocacy, calling on Cannon to "recuse herself from the indictment case," had received 43,791 signatures as of 9:38 a.m. ET on November 8.

The petition states: "Donald Trump has FINALLY been indicted for stealing classified documents—but the case is already hitting a major roadblock in the form of Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump-appointed judge who has been assigned to oversee his indictment case.

"Cannon already has a history of issuing rulings in Trump's favor, including what many legal experts saw as an extraordinary decision to approve a so-called 'special master' to review the documents seized by the FBI. She tried to bar federal agents from reviewing classified documents until a federal appeals court threw out her ruling."

In September 2022 a three-judge appeals panel overturned Judge Cannon's ruling calling for a special master to examine whether documents seized by the FBI when they raided Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in August 2022 should be withheld from federal investigators after this was requested by Trump's legal team.

The petition continues: "It's obvious from her previous actions that Cannon is compromised and indebted to Donald Trump and cannot be trusted to behave in an objective, nonpartisan manner.

"This prosecution is far too important to be derailed by one of Trump's loyal cronies. Trump knowingly violated the law and cannot be allowed to skate free using his network of influence the way he has for his entire life."

Newsweek has reached out to Judge Cannon for comment via the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida by telephone.

Trump's legal team has been trying to get his classified documents trial delayed as much as possible. As the trial is federal if Trump is re-elected to the White House before the verdict is issued he may well be able to get it shut down.

Shortly after Cannon said Trump's classified documents trial could be delayed, with the former president's lawyers arguing it could clash with his federal election subversion case, they asked for that trial to be paused whilst they attempt to get it thrown out based on presidential immunity.

These legal machinations infuriated Mary Trump, the estranged niece of Trump and a fierce critic of his politics. Writing on her Substack page she said: "In Florida, Donald's personal pocket judge Aileen Cannon continues to protect her favorite defendant.

"She tips her hand when it comes to 1) her contempt for the prosecution and 2) her clear desire to push back the trial as much as possible so Donald can run for re-elected as possible."