Judge Aileen Cannon was shockingly told by fellow judges to resign from Donald Trump’s secret documents case

Senior judges in Florida approached Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon last year to ask her to step aside from his Mar-a-Lago case involving classified documents — but she steadfastly refused, according to a shocking new report.

Cannon was the source of anger and confusion among Trump critics after she issued rulings in the case that were overturned and failed to advance the case before the November election.

Trump was indicted in June 2023 and accused of illegally withholding national security documents from his Florida club.

Not long after, two senior federal judges asked Cannon, who was assigned the case, to step aside New York Times reported Thursday, citing her limited trial experience and statements that helped the defense.

Judge Cannon was appointed to the Senate in November 2020, weeks before Trump left office, and had limited experience in the complex area of ​​national security law and classified documents. Her Fort Pierce courtroom, unlike the federal courthouse in southern Miami, was not equipped with a secure document processing facility.

“Her critics have suggested she could be in over her head, in the tank for Mr. Trump — or both,” as the Times put it in its report, which relied on sources who provided details of the pleas, which arrived by telephone. .

Among those urging her to withdraw from the case was Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga, chief judge of the Southern District of Florida, a George W. Bush appointee who first female Cuban-American federal judge.

Prosecutors, led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, successfully got a Court of Appeals panel to reverse its order preventing the government from using classified documents seized during its investigation of the former president made. It agreed with the DOJ’s assertion that “the district court likely erred in the exercise of its jurisdiction.”

Among those who have overturned her procedural decisions in the past year is attorney George Conway, who announced his divorce from former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway last year. He called Cannon “she is uniquely incompetent but effective.”

Federal judges like Cannon make their own decisions on whether to recuse or dismiss a case.

A year ago, experts identified the Florida case as the biggest threat to Trump. It is now highly unlikely that a trial will take place before the November elections

Trump has blasted the case, federal prosecutors and FBI agents who searched Mar-a-Lago. If he were elected president, he could use his authority to try to close the case

It has been determined that Chief U.S. District Judge Cecilia Maria Altonaga asked Judge Cannon to decline to oversee the case

The conflicts and filings in the courts have become increasingly heated, with Smith’s team calling a Trump legal theory “pure fiction” and Cannon criticizing Smith’s prosecutors for demanding a quick decision “unprecedented and unjust.”

The information about the peer pressure, which Cannon resisted, comes after the classified documents case — once the most serious legal threat Trump faces — has little chance of going to trial before Trump faces a jury.

In May, Cannon accused Smith of making a “bad faith” request to impose a gag order on Trump following his claim that the FBI had the authority to shoot him during a search of Mar-a-Lago. She ruled against Smith, saying federal prosecutors failed to show “professional courtesy” when they consulted with attorneys just before the start of the Memorial Day weekend.

Also in May, she postponed the trial indefinitely. The start was scheduled for May 20.