A federal judge in Florida on Monday dismissed the criminal classified documents case against former President Donald Trump and two co-defendants, ruling that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith as prosecutor for the case violated the appointments clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Trump was accused in the case of illegally retaining classified government documents after leaving the White House in January 2021, and trying to withhold them from government officials who sought their return.
The bombshell ruling by Judge Aileen Cannon — who was appointed to the federal bench by Trump — ruling comes two days after a would-be assassin narrowly missed killing Trump during a campaign rally in western Pennsylvania.
The ruling, which also tossed criminal charges faced by Trump’s valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago worker Carlos De Oliveira, was issued hours before the start of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which will formally confirm Trump as the GOP presidential nominee for November’s election.
Special Prosecutor Jack Smith (L), and Former President Donald Trump.
Getty Images | Reuters
Smith’s office can appeal Cannon’s ruling, and is almost certain to do so.
The issue of the legality of his appointment is likely to end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Cannon in her ruling granting a dismissal motion by Trump’s found that Smith’s appointment as special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland violated the Constitution’s appointments clause, which says “Officers of the United States” must be appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
She also ruled that Smith’s use of “permanent indefinite appropriation” — funding for his prosecution office — violated that constitutional clause.
Trump still faces three other pending criminal prosecutions.
In one of those, in federal court in Washington, D.C., the Republican is accused of crimes related to his efforts to undo his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.
Smith’s office is prosecuting that case against Trump in Washington.
Cannon’s ruling on the legality of Smith’s appointment is not binding on the judge in the D.C. case, but is certain to be cited by Trump’s lawyers there in a renewed effort to get that election case tossed out.
Aileen M. Cannon, United States District Judge, Southern District of Florida
Courtesy: US Courts
Trump is charged in a state case in Georgia with racketeering related to his attempts to reverse his 2020 electoral loss.
And he is awaiting criminal sentencing in New York state court after begin convicted this year of crimes connected to a 2016 hush money payment by his then-lawyer to porn star Stormy Daniels.
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