Aileen Cannon Slaps Down Donald Trump’s Request

Judge Aileen Cannon on Thursday denied former President Donald Trump‘s motion claiming that the FBI provided false or misleading information to justify the 2022 search warrant for his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Cannon rejected Trump’s request for a Franks hearing, a legal proceeding to challenge the warrant based on claims of falsified information, because she determined his legal team had not provided sufficient evidence that the search warrant affidavit “contains any material false statements or omissions.” The move halts the former president’s ability to throw out the classified documents case.

Trump is due to stand trial after being indicted last June by the U.S. Department of Justice‘s special counsel Jack Smith on 40 federal charges, alleging that he illegally retained classified documents after leaving the White House in 2021 and obstructed the government’s efforts to retrieve them. Trump’s indictment came after the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, in August 2022. The former president has pleaded not guilty and has said the case is politically motivated.

Cannon, who was appointed by Trump in 2020, has faced criticism, largely along partisan lines, for her handling of the case, including delaying the trial and not setting a start date.

This is a developing story and will be updated when more information becomes available.