Aileen Cannon Hands Donald Trump Major Legitimacy Boost: Attorney

District Judge Aileen Cannon has given former President Donald Trump a further boost in his classified documents case, according to a former U.S. attorney.

Cannon, who was nominated and appointed by the 45th president while in office and who is presiding over Trump’s classified documents case, is extending a public platform to the former president by way of public hearings.

Cannon’s decision has sparked intense scrutiny, with critics including former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance, who has argued that providing such a platform serves to validate Trump’s narrative of political persecution by President Joe Biden and others.

Trump’s repeated assertions of being unfairly targeted by political adversaries, particularly regarding investigations into his conduct while in office, were a consistent theme throughout his presidency and beyond.

Vance, a former U.S. attorney in Alabama who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, said that Cannon’s decision is giving Trump a platform to legitimize his claims of being a victim of a political witch hunt.

In her Substack newsletter titled Mar-a-No-Go, Vance said: “By holding hearings on these motions, Judge Cannon is also giving Trump a public platform to legitimize his baseless allegations that the prosecution is a politically motivated witch hunt that is proceeding under Joe Biden’s direction.

“There is no support for any of this—Trump not only kept classified information he was not entitled to, spreading it across bathrooms and ballrooms at Mar-a-Lago in a careless fashion, he also obstructed efforts by the government to get it back as well as the criminal investigation, in a way that clarifies his intent to violate the law.”

Vance continued: “Judge Cannon will give the arguments legitimacy by holding hearings, and since there are no cameras in her courtroom, Trump will be free to say whatever he wants to when he walks outside of it.”

The move comes amid a backdrop of heightened political polarization, with Trump’s base remaining fiercely loyal to him, while critics continue to condemn his actions and rhetoric.

The decision by Cannon to provide Trump with a platform to reiterate his claims of persecution is likely to intensify divisions and further fuel debates, particularly as Cannon recently indefinitely postponed Trump’s classified documents case in Florida.

Trump is facing multiple felony counts that accuse him of illegally stockpiling classified documents that he took with him to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, following his departure from the White House in 2021.

He is further accused of obstructing the government’s attempts to get the documents back. Trump has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Newsweek has contacted Vance and representatives of Trump via email for further comment.