Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) sent a letter to the Miami federal court on Thursday seeking additional information about reports that Judge Eileen Cannon may have been pressured to recuse herself from a classified documents lawsuit against former President Donald Trump. Daily Caller News Foundation report.
of letterIn documents first obtained by DCNF, The New York Times According to reports, sources said two judges pressured Cannon to step aside from the case.
Gaetz wrote to Cecilia Altonaga, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, “The New York Times recently reported that multiple individuals have reported that Judge Eileen Cannon in your district has faced what appear to be unethical pressure (“Trump Papers Judge Rejects Offer to Resign,” June 20, 2024). Specifically, multiple anonymous sources have reported that two judges have publicly stated that they have tried to persuade Judge Cannon to resign in the Trump Papers case. The timing (apparently after the litigation was well advanced) and the fact that the New York Times described the effort as ‘unusual’ at the very least justify lobbying from Congress.”
“I am well aware of the dynamics of a peer court and the facts presented by the media may be incorrect,” Gaetz said.
“There is nothing unusual about a senior colleague explaining the pitfalls of a case they are handling to a more junior colleague and offering options, but this article suggests there is more to it than that,” he added.
Gaetz posed several questions to the Court:
- Did you personally discuss the Trump Papers case with Judge Cannon? If so, when?
- Did you try to convince her to leave the case by reassignment or other means, and if so, what were those means and dates?
- Do you have reason to believe that your conversations with Judge Cannon were protected by codes of court conduct or judicial ethics and that leaking them to The New York Times might violate those rules? If so, what rules?
- Are there any ongoing investigations into these leaks?
- What proactive steps have the courts taken to avoid a recurrence of this situation?
He asked for a response by July 5th.
a press release Gaetz said the two justices “[ing] “Undue political pressure on Mr Cannon to step down and allow a more liberal justice to take over.”
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