Aileen Mercedes Cannon is a Colombian-born American lawyer who currently serves as a U.S. district judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Previously, Cannon worked for the corporate law firm Gibson Dunn from 2009 to 2012, and then as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of Florida from 2013 to 2020. She was nominated by then President Donald Trump to become a district judge and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in November 2020.
From August to December 2022, Cannon presided over the case of Donald J. Trump v. United States of America. Cannon ordered the U.S. government to pause using materials seized from Mar-a-Lago, Trump's private club and residence, in its investigation and granted Trump's request for a special master to review the material. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed Cannon's order, finding that Cannon wrongly exercised jurisdiction over the case. Cannon then dismissed Trump's lawsuit per instructions from the Eleventh Circuit.
Following an indictment in June 2023, Cannon has been overseeing a resulting federal criminal case against Trump. Some legal experts, citing her handling of the civil case against Trump, have been calling for her recusal from the case.
