The man who is charged with attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump at his Florida golf club asked the judge presiding over the case to recuse herself to “preserve the appearance of impartiality.”
Ryan Routh has pleaded not guilty to the five counts he faces for his Sept. 15 actions, including the attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate. His case was randomly assigned to Aileen Cannon, a Trump-appointed federal judge criticized for dismissing Trump’s classified documents case over the summer.
In a motion filed Thursday, lawyers for Routh noted that while Cannon’s appointment by Trump is not inherently disqualifying, the circumstances of this case in which Trump is the alleged victim make the concerns around the appearance of partiality “particularly salient.”
This case “involves no official policy, regulation, or program at all,” the motion states. “Rather, a former President is involved in this case in a purely personal capacity as the alleged victim of a crime — and an assassination attempt no less. In the mind of the public, this visceral context may make it even more difficult for a judge to set aside personal feelings of loyalty or gratitude for the President that bestowed on her a lifetime appointment to the bench.”
In July, Cannon tossed the case against Trump concerning his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office, claiming that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith by the Justice Department was unconstitutional. Trump and his allies celebrated the development.
Smith has appealed the ruling.
Lawyers for Routh claim this decision, as well as Trump’s subsequent praise for the judge, could lead to the perception that there is a conflict of interest for Cannon, thus justifying her removal from the case.
“By repeatedly and publicly praising this Court by name for its rulings in his case, Mr. Trump has arguably bolstered the perception that the Court is partial in his favor,” the motion says. “Moreover, were Mr. Trump to become President again in the future, he would be in a position to nominate Your Honor to a vacancy on a higher appellate court, including the U.S. Supreme Court.”
The government is taking the motion under advisement, but no decisions have been made on it so far, Routh’s attorneys said.
Routh’s purported plan to assassinate Trump was thwarted when a Secret Service agent noticed his rifle barrel through the bushes that line the court at Trump’s West Palm Beach golf club. No rounds were fired, officials said, and the former president was immediately rushed away from the scene.
