A federal appeals court will no longer accept complaints about Aileen Cannon, the judge presiding over the federal criminal case against Donald Trump in Florida, that appear to be part of an “orchestrated campaign.”
The May 22 opinion from the 11th Circuit Judicial Council, which oversees lower courts in Florida, said that since May 16, 2024, the clerk has received more than 1,000 complaints “that raise allegations that are similar to the allegations raised in previous complaints.” The council ordered the court clerk to stop accepting similar complaints.
It’s not clear what exactly started the onslaught of complaints after May 16. Last month, Cannon indefinitely postponed the start of the trial in the Trump case, where he has been accused of mishandling classified documents.
Several complaints against Cannon “question the correctness of her rulings or her delays in issuing rulings” in the classified documents case, the judicial council’s opinion said. Those complaints included allegations “unsupported by any evidence” that Cannon has an “improper motive in delaying the case,” according to the opinion.
Other complaints called on the 11th Circuit Court’s Chief Judge William Pryor to remove Cannon from the classified documents case – an action that that judicial council said that neither he nor the council could take.
Pryor has considered and dismissed some of the complaints because they did not provide sufficient evidence that any misconduct by Cannon had occurred, according to the order.
