An MSNBC legal analyst called for the judge overseeing the classified documents case against former President Trump to recuse herself on Sunday, claiming the American public will not have "confidence" in her rulings as long as she presides over the case.
MSNBC legal analysts Joyce Vance and Carol Lam, both former U.S. attorneys, joined a panel on "Velshi" Sunday to discuss the historic indictment and criminal case against the former president, which will be overseen by Judge Aileen Cannon. Cannon is a former federal prosecutor who was nominated to the bench by Trump in 2020 and has faced criticism for her handling of the case in its earlier stages.
Cannon was assigned at random to handle the federal criminal case against Trump, but Vance called on the judge to recuse herself claiming that Cannon's role in the case will shake public confidence in the court given her "track record," which Vance said could "hamper her decision-making."
TRUMP, LAWYERS PART WAYS AFTER FEDERAL INDICTMENT
"She was selected fair and square…[but] the reality is, in a case like this, the public won’t have confidence whether she acquits or convict," Vance said. "Better to pass it on to another judge who doesn’t have that kind of a track record here.
Cannon was thrust into the spotlight last year when she issued what many legal experts saw as an extraordinary and unusually broad decision to appoint a "special master" to review the documents seized by the FBI.
As part of that case, Cannon temporarily barred federal agents and prosecutors from reviewing a batch of classified documents seized during the search. Her order was ultimately thrown out by a federal appeals court, which found she had overstepped.
Lam argued that Cannon's legal past with Trump is a "red-herring" but isn't a substantial basis for her to recuse herself from the case. Vance disagreed with Lam, asserting that Cannon should pass the case to another judge to avoid "any appearance of impropriety."
TRUMP, LAWYERS PART WAYS AFTER FEDERAL INDICTMENT
"This is about how the public will view this case," Vance said. "And because of her decisions in the earlier matter where the 11th Circuit didn’t just reverse her, but they said she was out of bounds, that she lacked jurisdiction. They moved extraordinarily quickly to prevent her from allowing Trump to engage in delay. I think that alone might hamper her decision-making,
"The judge who oversees the case has a lot of authority to make subtle decisions that don’t necessarily come to public notice in time to impact the outcome of a case," Vance continued. "She could impact the selection of jurors. She will rule on pretrial motions. She would rule on the admissibility of evidence if she was the trial judge…"
Vance joined a chorus of other MSNBC pundits and analysts who rushed to point out Cannon's legal past with Trump since she was assigned to his case. On Friday, Vance questioned Cannon's "objectivity" while her colleagues pointed out her previous "favorable rulings for the former president."
Cannon will handle the initial court proceedings after the arraignment and her name appeared on a sealed federal summons issued to Trump to appear in court Tuesday afternoon, sources said.
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Trump was indicted on Thursday on 37 felony counts including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and false statements, according to an unsealed copy of the indictment obtained by Fox News.
Trump has told Fox News Digital he will plead "not guilty."
Fox News' Andrew Mark Miller and Bill Mears contributed to this report.
