Why Aileen Cannon is unlikely to be removed from the Donald Trump assassination case

Judge Aileen Cannon is unlikely to be removed from the Ryan Routh gun case despite her “apparent favoritism” toward Donald Trump, a legal analyst said.

Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University, reacted to the news that Cannon had been assigned to the case of Ryan Routh, who is accused of trying to shoot Donald Trump in Florida.

Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, oversaw his case involving classified documents and denied all charges, saying the special counsel was appointed illegally. Now she has been randomly assigned to the Routh case.

Newsweek sought emailed comment from Cannon's office on Wednesday.

“I doubt Cannon would be rejected in the Routh case. “Cannon’s apparent favoritism toward Trump does not mean that her impartiality in the Routh case could reasonably be questioned,” Gillers said Newsweek.

“Whatever she does in this case will not benefit Trump as a candidate,” he added.

Greg Germain, a law professor at Syracuse University in New York, agreed that it was unlikely Cannon would be removed from the case.

“Aileen Cannon has shown no inclination to recuse herself, despite widespread concerns about her independence, even in direct proceedings against the person who appointed her,” he said Newsweek. “That's why I don't think she will resist the more remote appearance of conflict in a trial against an attempted assassin.”

The Department of Justice has charged 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh with possession of a firearm as an ex-felon and possession of a firearm with an erased serial number.

Routh allegedly planned to shoot Donald Trump on Sept. 15 at a Palm Beach golf course owned by the former president, and additional charges are pending.

While Routh was not firing shots on September 15, a Secret Service agent spotted a rifle sticking out of a fence at the golf course and opened fire. Routh was later arrested after police stopped his car.

Kristy Greenberg, an MSNBC legal analyst and former Manhattan district attorney, wrote Tuesday on

“Watch Judge Cannon apply basic case management skills to advance Trump’s attempted assassination case. It was never incompetence. Each time she deliberately allowed herself to be lured by Trump to delay the release of the classified documents,” Greenberg wrote.

Trump faced 40 federal charges in Cannon's court over his alleged handling of sensitive materials seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, after he left the White House in January 2021. He was also accused of obstructing federal authorities' efforts to retrieve them.

The Republican presidential candidate pleaded not guilty and said the case was part of a political witch hunt. Cannon denied all charges, saying special counsel Jack Smith was illegally appointed.

In her dismissal of the charges on July 15, Cannon noted that there is no constitutional support for appointing special counsel Smith, a “private citizen,” as the Justice Department prosecutor in charge of all federal charges against Trump.