Defense lawyers for the Hawaii man charged with trying to assassinate former President Donald Trump at his golf course in Florida renewed their efforts Wednesday to get the Trump-appointed judge who is handling the case to step down, citing a recent news article saying she is under consideration for a top legal position if Trump wins the election.
Lawyers for the man, Ryan W. Routh, had initially asked the judge, Aileen M. Cannon, to step back from the case last week. They claimed then that there was “an appearance of partiality” on the part of Cannon given that Trump has “repeatedly praised” her rulings in the separate criminal case in which he stands accused of illegally holding on to classified documents after he left office.
In a surprise decision in that case in July, Cannon dismissed the charges against Trump in their entirety, ruling — against decades of legal precedent — that Jack Smith, the special counsel who filed the indictment, had been illegally appointed to his job.
In their latest filing, Routh’s lawyers suggested there was even more reason for Cannon to remove herself from the assassination case because of an ABC News report Tuesday. That report said the judge’s name had appeared on an internal Trump campaign document listing potential staffing choices for legal jobs in places like the Justice Department and the White House Counsel’s Office.
“In the mind of the public, that Trump appointed your honor may add to the appearance of partiality given that he has publicly praised your honor for rulings in his earlier case,” the lawyers told Cannon. “And were Mr. Trump to become president again, he would have authority to elevate your honor to a federal appellate court (including the U.S. Supreme Court) or to high-ranking positions in the executive branch.”
Cannon, who would have to remove herself from the case, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
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