Trump-appointed judge who issued rulings favorable to him assigned to oversee criminal case. Get the latest.

The assignment of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, confirmed Friday by a person familiar with the development, is a rare bit of positive news for Trump in the face of an indictment with several criminal charges that carries the prospect of a years-long prison sentence.

Cannon was broadly criticized last year for granting the Trump legal team’s request for a special master to conduct an independent review of the hundreds of classified documents seized from his Florida property last year. The move, which temporarily halted core aspects of the Justice Department’s investigative work, was overturned months later by a three-judge panel of a federal appeals court.

Meanwhile Friday, two of Trump’s lawyers — James Trusty and John Rowley — who had handled the documents probe for months, said they had resigned their roles and would no longer be representing him. Trump, in his own post, said that the case going forward will be handled by Todd Blanche, a lawyer representing him in a separate prosecution in New York, and other yet-to-be-named attorneys.

The Justice Department was expected before Tuesday to make public an indictment ahead of a historic court appearance next week in the midst of a 2024 presidential campaign punctuated by criminal prosecutions in multiple states.

Trump’s indictment carries unmistakably grave legal consequences, including the possibility of prison if he’s convicted.

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