Ryan Routh, charged with attempted assassination, asks to change judge Donald Trump appointed, praised
Ryan Routh, who is charged with trying to assassinate former President Donald Trump, has asked for a different federal judge to preside over his trial in Florida because Trump appointed and has praised the judge assigned to the case as "very highly respected" and "very smart."
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon is the same judge who dismissed charges against Trump that accused him of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home after leaving the White House.
She ruled the prosecutor, Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, was appointed illegitimately, as Trump had argued. Smith has appealed her decision.
Routh’s lawyers noted in a filing Thursday that Trump praised Cannon by name to applause during the Republican National Convention in July as “a highly respected federal judge.” On television, Trump has called Cannon a “very highly respected judge, a very smart judge, and a very strong judge” and said he was “very proud to have appointed her.”
“Taken together, these unprecedented facts and circumstances might create an appearance of partiality in the mind of the public,” Routh’s public defenders, Kristy Militello and Renee Sihvola, wrote in a filing.
Cannon didn’t immediately rule on the request.
Routh is charged with hiding at Trump International Golf Course while Trump played golf until a Secret Service agent shot at him and chased him away. Local authorities pulled Routh over soon after and he faces federal charges of attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, possession of a firearm in a crime of violence, possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number and as a felon in possession of a firearm.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ryan Routh asks to change judge from Donald Trump appointee