Lawyers for the man charged with attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump on a golf course in Florida last month have asked U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to recuse herself from the case.
Attorneys for Ryan Routh filed a 10-page motion Thursday formally asking Cannon to step back from the criminal case because of Trump’s praise for her past rulings in his favor, the fact that the former president appointed her to the federal bench and because of public suspicion about how she came to be assigned to yet another high-profile case involving Trump.
“The unprecedented facts and circumstances of this case, at the very least, create significant doubts about whether this court could preside consistent with the requisite appearance of impartiality. And ‘any doubts must be resolved in favor of recusal,’” Routh’s public defenders Kristy Militello and Renee Sihvola wrote, quoting a legal precedent.
Federal prosecutors have not yet offered a position on the recusal request, the defense motion says.
Before she was assigned to oversee Routh’s case, Cannon was assigned to a suit Trump filed demanding special supervision over records the FBI seized from his Mar-a-Lago home in a court-ordered search in 2022. She also took up the ensuing criminal case special counsel Jack Smith brought against Trump last year, accusing him of hoarding classified information after his presidency and obstructing justice. In July, Cannon dismissed the case, ruling the special counsel’s appointment was unconstitutional.
“The public may suspect that Mr. Trump’s cases have somehow been deliberately steered to this Court. ... That perception would irreparably damage the integrity of this court as an institution, not to mention the judicial process,” Routh’s defense attorneys wrote, while acknowledging they had no evidence that the assignments were anything other than random.
Based on recent court dockets, it appears that Cannon was one of about half a dozen federal judges who were eligible for assignment to the Routh case.
However, in response to a query from POLITICO last month, the clerk’s office for the Southern District of Florida refused to disclose the number or identities of the eligible judges. “Information regarding which specific judges, or how many, are on a particular assignment wheel at any given time is not public information,” a court official said.
Cannon, who is based in Fort Pierce, received widespread criticism from legal analysts for her rulings in the earlier Trump-related cases. Her decision to appoint a special master to review the documents seized from Trump’s estate was partially stayed by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and then reversed in its entirety. Her decision to toss out the classified documents prosecution against Trump based on arguments Smith was illegally appointed is currently on appeal to the same court.
The defense motion argues that numerous public statements from Trump extolling Cannon’s legal acumen — including a tribute he paid to her in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention — could lead the public to have doubts about her impartiality in the assassination case. They also raise the possibility that Trump could appoint Cannon to a higher court, such as the Supreme Court, if he wins the presidency in November.
“In the mind of the public, this prospect of a judicial promotion could arguably affect this Court’s ability to be impartial in this case, where Mr. Trump is the alleged victim and has an interest in the outcome,” the defense lawyers wrote.
Judges rarely recuse solely due to the identity or partisan affiliation of the president who appointed them. Such a practice could unleash chaos in the federal judiciary since a vast number of cases involve the federal government. However, Routh’s lawyers argue this is an atypical situation, particularly due to Trump’s status as a victim in a criminal case.
According to court filings, Trump was golfing in West Palm Beach on Sept. 15 when a Secret Service agent spotted Routh with a semi-automatic rifle crouching in the bushes and fired shots in his direction. He tried to flee but was later arrested, and his attorneys have said that his actions amounted more to a publicity stunt rather than a serious attempt on Trump’s life.
Routh’s attorneys on Sept. 30 pleaded not guilty on his behalf to the five counts he faces, including attempted assassination of a presidential candidate and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon. Federal prosecutors have requested an indefinite delay in scheduling the trial, citing the complexity of the case. Routh is being held in jail without bond until his case proceeds.
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