A judge appointed by former President Donald Trump will oversee his initial appearance in court after being indicted.
Judge Aileen M. Cannon will be in charge, The Washington Post and The New York Times reported on Friday. Cannon was appointed by Trump to the federal bench in 2020.
Trump was ordered to the Federal District Court in Miami on Tuesday to face federal criminal charges on allegations that he mishandled classified documents and obstructed the government’s efforts to reclaim them.
Cannon was the judge who last year appointed a special master in the case. She also stopped the FBI temporarily from having access to classified documents.
Trump, who has denied all charges, announced he would be represented by attorney Todd Blanche and “a firm to be named later.” Blanche attended the Manhattan criminal court appearance with Trump in April.
Also Friday, former Vice President Mike Pence appeared on a nationally syndicated radio show Friday morning. He called on the Justice Department to be transparent and unseal the indictment “before the sun sets.”
“The Attorney General … should provide the American people with all the facts and information here, and the American people will be able to judge for themselves,” Pence said on the “Hugh Hewitt Show.”
Meanwhile, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, was critical of Trump on Friday.
“Mr. Trump brought these charges upon himself by not only taking classified documents, but by refusing to simply return them when given numerous opportunities to do so. These allegations are serious and if proven, would be consistent with his other actions offensive to the national interest, such as withholding defensive weapons from Ukraine for political reasons and failing to defend the Capitol from violent attack,” Romney said in a statement.