U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's 2022 financial disclosure report shows she received no gifts and had only a single financial reimbursem*nt for her attendance at a legal colloquium in Montana.
Newsweek reviewed the disclosure at the online database for federal judicial financial reports as Cannon faces renewed scrutiny in her role overseeing the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump.
Cannon, a Trump appointee who is a federal judge for the Southern District of Florida, has been criticized for her decision to appoint a special master in the documents case—a decision that was overturned by a three-judge panel of the Florida-based U.S. Court of the Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
The judge became the focus of attention again after issuing an order that Trump's trial will begin on May 20, 2024, rejecting his legal team's request for an indefinite delay until after the 2024 presidential election, in which Trump is a candidate for a second term.
On June 9, Trump was indicted on 37 felony counts over claims he mishandled classified documents after leaving the White House and failed to return them when asked to do so by the relevant authorities.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges four days later after being arraigned in Miami. Three additional felony counts were added on July 27, relating to claims Trump and two employees sought to destroy surveillance camera footage at his Mar-a-Lago private members' resort, where the documents were being stored.
The high-profile nature of the case and the fact that Cannon was appointed by Trump have led some to reexamine her financial disclosures.
Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida via email for comment.
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One verified Twitter account, An Academic View, tweeted on Wednesday: "Federalist Society President Leonard Leo, paid for a $600-1,000 per night 6 day vacation at a Montana luxury resort in Oct, 2021 for Judge Aileen Cannon according to her 2022 financial disclosures."
That tweet had been viewed more than 250,000 as of Thursday morning, but the claim does not reflect the information in Cannon's 2022 financial disclosure, which is seven pages.
The disclosure shows a reimbursem*nt for Cannon's attendance at the Sage Lodge Colloquium seminar hosted by George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School (Law & Economics Center) from September 25, 2022, to October 1, 2022. The event took place at the Sage Lodge hotel in Pray, Montana and the agenda is still available online.
Cannon's 2021 report shows an almost identical entry. She attended the colloquium at Sage Lodge from September 26, 2021, to October 1, 2021. The Antonin Scalia Law School is listed as the source of the reimbursem*nt, which was made for "Transportation, meals, hotel." The disclosure does not list a dollar amount for the reimbursem*nt.
There is nothing to suggest that Leo, co-chairman and former executive vice president of the conservative Federalist Society, provided any money to fund Cannon's attendance at the event.
The Antonin Scalia Law School has connections to Leo, who helped to secure a $30 million deal with donors to rename the law school for the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016.
According to a report from The New York Times in April, $10 million came from the Charles Koch Foundation and the rest from an anonymous donor who had approached Leo.
Cannon's report listed no other reimbursem*nts for 2022, no gifts and only one liability—a mortgage on a rental property held by Bank of America. The judge listed several investments, including a checking account, a savings account and some shares, among other items.
She also signed the document, dated May 26, 2023, certifying that "earned income from outside employment and honoraria and the acceptance of gifts which have been reported" were in compliance with federal law and Judicial Conference regulations.
The report warns in all capital letters that "any individual who knowingly and willfully falsifies or fails to file this report may be subject to civil
and criminal sanctions."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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