© 2025
In touch with the world ... at home on the High Plains
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
We recently completed the changeover to a new, much improved audio management system, including a new program scheduling computer, file servers, workstations and more secure and reliable IT networking between our studios in Garden City and Amarillo. This work involved thousands of audio files and lines of programming code, so you may hear some glitches in our programming as we "burn-in" the system in the coming days. We apologize for any disruptions to your listening. If you have questions or problems to report, please contact HPPR's Technical Director, Alex Fregger (afregger@hppr.org).

KJJJP-FM 105.7 in Amarillo is currently operating at 10% power due to problems with its main transmitter. Engineers are currently working to resolve the problem. If you listen to 105.7 FM and are experiencing reception problems, you can always listen to its programming through the streaming player above.

Legal experts want Judge Cannon removed from Trump's Mar-a-Lago documents case

The federal courthouse, where U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, holds hearings for former President Donald Trump in Fort Pierce, Fla.
Joe Raedle
/
Getty Images
The federal courthouse, where U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, holds hearings for former President Donald Trump in Fort Pierce, Fla.

MIAMI — A retired federal judge is among those asking an appeals court to reassign former President Trump’s indictment on charges of mishandling classified documents case to a new judge.

In documents filed with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, two groups of legal experts and former government officials say U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon should be removed from the case.

Former federal judge Nancy Gertner and two legal scholars, Stephen Gillers and James Sample say rulings by Judge Cannon and her numerous delays have raised “well-founded concerns that she may be biased against the Government’s case and unable to manage that case impartially.” They’re seeking permission to file an amicus brief.

In July, Judge Cannon dismissed Trump’s indictment on charges he illegally withheld and concealed classified and top-secret documents from federal investigators. In a decision that ran counter to decades of judicial rulings, including by the U.S. Supreme Court, Cannon said the statute under which special counsel Jack Smith was appointed violated the Constitution. Smith is appealing the dismissal.

In this image from video provided by the U.S. Senate, Aileen M. Cannon speaks remotely during a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight nomination hearing to be U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on July 29, 2020, in Washington.
AP / U.S. Senate
/
U.S. Senate
In this image from video provided by the U.S. Senate, Aileen M. Cannon speaks remotely during a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight nomination hearing to be U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida on July 29, 2020, in Washington.

Gertner and the legal scholars were joined in the motion by the government watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government (CREW). They say if the appeals court overturns Cannon’s ruling, it would be the third time it’s reversed her in “a seemingly straightforward case about a former president’s unauthorized possession of government documents.”

A second group of former government officials and legal scholars has also filed a motion with the 11th Circuit asking for permission to file an amicus brief.

They say Judge Cannon’s ruling ignored the “plain text” of the Appointments Clause of the Constitution which allows the Attorney General to appoint a special prosecutor. Her dismissal of the charges they say are “in clear defiance of binding Supreme Court precedent and the plain text of Congress’ statutes.” They’re asking the Appeals Court to reverse Judge Cannon’s ruling and to remove her from the case.

Copyright 2024 NPR

As NPR's Miami correspondent, Greg Allen reports on the diverse issues and developments tied to the Southeast. He covers everything from breaking news to economic and political stories to arts and environmental stories. He moved into this role in 2006, after four years as NPR's Midwest correspondent.