No matter whether Judge Aileen Cannon "acquits or convicts" former President Trump, according to Joyce Vance, the American public would not have "trust" in her decision.

According to a legal commentator for MSNBC, if the judge presiding over the case against former President Trump over secret materials does not step down, the American people would not have "confidence" in her decisions, as Fox News reported.

The legendary indictment and criminal case against the former president, which will be presided over by Judge Aileen Cannon, were discussed on "Velshi" Sunday by MSNBC legal commentators Joyce Vance and Carol Lam, both of whom were previously U.S. attorneys.

Trump nominated Cannon, a former federal prosecutor, to the bench in 2020. She has drawn criticism for how she handled the case in its early stages.

About Cannon's Appointment

The federal criminal case against Trump was awarded to Cannon at random, but Vance urged on the judge to step down, arguing that Cannon's involvement in the case will undermine public trust in the judiciary given her "track record," which might "hamper her decision-making."

"She was selected fair and square…[but] the reality is, in a case like this, the public won’t have confidence whether she acquits or convict," Vance said. "Better to pass it on to another judge who doesn’t have that kind of a track record here."

When Cannon appointed a "special master" to examine the records the FBI had acquired, many legal experts saw her action as remarkable and extraordinarily wide. This decision catapulted Cannon into the public eye last year.

Cannon temporarily prohibited federal officers and prosecutors from accessing a number of secret papers collected during the search as part of that prosecution. A federal appeals court finally overturned her injunction after determining that she had exceeded her authority.

More of Vance's Comments

Cannon and Trump's legal history, according to Lam, is a "red-herring" but not a compelling reason for her to recuse herself from the case. Vance disagreed with Lam and said that Cannon should refer the case to a different judge in order to prevent "any appearance of impropriety."

"This is about how the public will view this case," Vance said. "And because of her decisions in the earlier matter where the 11th Circuit didn’t just reverse her, but they said she was out of bounds, that she lacked jurisdiction.

"They moved extraordinarily quickly to prevent her from allowing Trump to engage in delay. I think that alone might hamper her decision-making,

"The judge who oversees the case has a lot of authority to make subtle decisions that don’t necessarily come to public notice in time to impact the outcome of a case," Vance continued.

"She could impact the selection of jurors. She will rule on pretrial motions. She would rule on the admissibility of evidence if she was the trial judge…"