Aileen Cannon Under Fire as Trump Witness Speaks Out: ‘Disturbing’

The actions of the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s classified documents case are being scrutinized after a potential key witness in the trial came forward to describe how he helped the former president move boxes of sensitive materials.

Brian Butler, a former Mar-a-Lago worker who was referenced as “Trump Employee Number 5” in the federal indictment, spoke to CNN about how he unwittingly assisted co-defendant Walt Nauta to move boxes of classified materials onto Trump’s private plane in June 2022 as the former president was meeting Justice Department officials to discuss returning documents that the government had sought under subpoena.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 40 charges over allegations he illegally retained sensitive materials when he left the White House in January 2021 and then obstructed the federal attempts to retrieve them. Trump’s two co-defendants in the case, Nauta and Mar-a-Lago maintenance worker Carlos De Oliveira, have also pleaded not guilty to all charges against them, including conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Speaking to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Butler dismissed the soon-to-be-confirmed 2024 Republican presidential nominee’s claim that the criminal investigation into him is a “witch hunt.” Butler added that he is coming forward now as the “American people have the right to know the facts” ahead of the next election.

Trump’s office has been contacted for comment via email.

Butler said he was spurred on to speak by Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to make the identities of potential witnesses in the classified documents trial public. Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office has argued against the move, suggesting that making the names of the witnesses known ahead of the high-profile trial would expose them to “significant and immediate risks of threats, intimidation, and harassment.”

“It’s been almost a year since FBI agents showed up at my house when my wife was at home. And over the course of the last year, emotionally, it’s been a roller coaster,” Butler said. “A couple of weeks ago, Judge Cannon says she’s going to release the names of the witnesses. You go from highs and lows in this.

“And instead of just waiting for it to just come out, I think it’s better that I get to at least say what happened, than it coming out in the news, people calling me crazy. I’d rather just get it out there, and the hope is, at least I can move on with my life and get over this.”

In response, a number of legal experts hit out at Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump and has been criticized for multiple judgments that have favored the former president.

“Concerns that Judge Aileen Cannon in the Mar-a-Lago prosecution is about to release the names of the government’s witnesses led a key one to come forward publicly today,” Joyce Vance, a former federal prosecutor and legal analyst, posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“As a former prosecutor, it’s hard to express how disturbing this is on multiple levels.”

Bradley P. Moss, a lawyer who specializes in national security, added: “Reminder: Cannon’s actions have consequences.”

Bill Kristol, a conservative political commentator and Trump critic who served as former chief of staff to former Republican Vice President Dan Quayle, also accused Cannon of “slow walking this open-and-shut, serious case” so it can be delayed beyond the 2024 election, a move which is being sought by the former president.

“WHERE’S THE OUTRAGE? This is real, existing Orbanism in the U.S,” Kristol wrote.

Butler described to CNN how he helped Nauta move the classified materials onto Trump’s plane at West Palm Beach airport in June 2022, two months before the FBI seized more than 100 sensitive and top secret materials from Mar-a-Lago.

“We got to the airport. I ended up loading all the luggage I had—and he had a bunch of boxes,” Butler said. “They were the boxes that were in the indictment, the white bankers boxes. That’s what I remember loading.”

Nauta’s lawyer has been contacted for comment via email.