As thorough and professional as the the special counsel has been, I am sure this was a topic within the DOJ. First, some background. From Wikipedia:
John L. Smith (born 1968 or 1969)[2] is an American attorney who has served in the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) as an assistant United States Attorney, acting United States Attorney, and head of the department's Public Integrity Section. He was also the chief prosecutor at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, an international tribunal at The Hague tasked with investigating and prosecuting war crimes in the Kosovo War.
In November 2022, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith an independent special counsel, responsible for overseeing two preexisting DOJ criminal investigations into former president Donald Trump: an investigation regarding Trump's role in the January 6 U.S. Capitol attack and an investigation into mishandling of government records, including classified documents.
and here is some data about Judge Cannon, also from WIki:
Aileen Mercedes Cannon was born in 1981 in Cali, Colombia.[1][2] Her mother had fled Cuba as a girl, after the Cuban Revolution of the 1950s.[2] Her father is from Indiana, the United States.[3] Cannon has an elder sister.[3] Cannon grew up in Miami, Florida, where she attended Ransom Everglades School, a private school.[2][3]
Cannon graduated from Duke University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts. In college, she studied for a semester in Spain and wrote for Miami's El Nuevo Herald newspaper, her writings included topics of flamenco dancing, festivals, and yoga. . . .
Cannon has been a member of the conservative Federalist Society since 2005, when she was a law student.[2][5] While being considered for the position of a district judge in 2020, Cannon explained that she joined the Federalist Society because of a "diversity of viewpoints" and also because she "found interesting the organization's discussions about the constitutional separation of powers, the rule of law, and the limited role of the judiciary to say what the law is—not to make the law"
I guess rubbing shoulders with the Federalists, who probably tried to teach her about the limited role a federal judge must take. Pity, the lessons did not take. Her decisions and pattern of behavior in Trump v. US have been described as the worst decisions and legal theories in a very long time.
She is a Trumper, pure and simple. Her interference in the initial battles, trying to recover stolen, top secret documents, with a special master, and other “curious” rulings, clearly showed that she put Trumpian interests above the country’s. Eventually, after slapping her around verbally, the 11th Circuit instructed to dismiss her pro-Trump case for a lack of jurisdiction. Surprisingly, she complied.
There are around 21 judges currently sitting in that district. If she were assigned this case, basically, a 1 in 5 shot, I doubt that justice would be served.
The criminal charges should be filed there, as most of the wrongdoing, except the initial theft of top secret documents, took place there. The lies, the hiding of docs, the roadblocks, and worst of all, sharing our nation’s secrets with our enemas, took place in Florida. So it would be the proper venue. These are supposed to be random assignments, although I have had my doubts about federal assignments for a couple of decades now.