The federal judge who dismissed Donald Trump’s classified documents case is reportedly in the running to become his chief law enforcement officer if he wins the presidential election next month.
The Trump team is considering Judge Aileen Cannon as a candidate for attorney general, sources told ABC News, with her name appearing on a list of potential appointments to various positions in a new Trump administration.
Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by Trump in 2020, stunned legal analysts in July when she dismissed dozens of criminal counts alleging Trump had mishandled classified documents after leaving office—including information about the U.S. nuclear programs, potential military vulnerabilities and plans for responding to a foreign attack—and blocked the government’s efforts to get them back.
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The information would put national security at risk if it got out, the indictment said, but Trump allegedly kept some of the files in cardboard boxes at his Mar-a-Lago resort, including in the bathroom and shower.
Some legal scholars blasted Cannon’s decision to dismiss the case as legally unsound and “dangerous.” But now, Cannon is one of about a dozen potential candidates for attorney general on a list called “Transition Planning: Legal Principals” drafted by Trump’s top advisers with input from his legal team, ABC reported.
Her name appears second after former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton.
Trump was indicted back in June 2023 for allegedly holding on to the classified documents, and the trial was originally supposed to begin in May of this year. After allowing a number of delay tactics from Trump’s lawyers, Cannon agreed to pause the trial indefinitely.
She then threw out the case entirely in July during the Republican National Convention, arguing that special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment had been unconstitutional.
Smith is appealing the ruling, but the case won’t go to trial before Election Day even if he’s successful.
According to ABC News, Cannon’s name was added to the Trump team list of potential attorney general candidates “well after” she dismissed the classified documents case.
