Federal District Judge Aileen Cannon has dismissed the case against Donald Trump regarding classified documents.
On Monday, Cannon ruled that the special counsel appointment of Jack Smith was unconstitutional.
Cannon stated, “In the end, it seems the Executive’s growing comfort in appointing ‘regulatory’ special counsels in the more recent era has followed an ad hoc pattern with little judicial scrutiny.”
This significant decision by Cannon, a judge appointed by Trump in 2020, eliminates a major legal challenge for the former president and coincides with the start of the Republican National Convention. Many legal experts considered the classified documents case the strongest of the four cases pending against Trump.
Last year, Smith charged Trump with taking classified documents from the White House and resisting government efforts to retrieve them. Trump pleaded not guilty.
Separately, Smith is pursuing federal charges against Trump in Washington, DC, related to Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. Additionally, Trump faces state election subversion charges in Georgia and was convicted of state crimes in New York earlier this year for his involvement in a hush money scheme before the 2016 election.
Trump’s attempt to dismiss the case based on the appointments clause was seen as unlikely to succeed, as several special counsels, including those during his presidency, operated similarly.
However, the argument gained traction when Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas supported the theory, noting in a footnote in the presidential immunity decision that there are “serious questions about whether the Attorney General violated the structure by creating a special counsel office not established by law. These questions must be resolved before the prosecution can proceed.”
Cannon recently held a hearing on this issue, pressing attorneys to clarify how Smith’s investigation into Trump was funded. The judge’s pointed questions led special counsel attorney James Pearce to argue that, even if Cannon dismissed the case over the appointments clause issue, the Justice Department was “prepared” to fund Smith’s cases through trial if needed.
Smith’s office has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Nancy Mbamalu
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