Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case against Donald Trump, handing the former president a massive win in his crusade to have his trio of remaining criminal trials thrown out or delayed beyond the 2024 election.
Cannon wrote in a 93-page order on Monday that she’d dismissed Trump’s indictment on the grounds that special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional.
“Upon careful study of the foundational challenges raised in the Motion, the Court is convinced that Special Counsel Smith’s prosecution of this action breaches two structural cornerstones of our constitutional scheme—the role of Congress in the appointment of constitutional officers, and the role of Congress in authorizing expenditures by law,” she wrote.
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The decision will almost certainly be challenged by Smith’s team of prosecutors at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, where the matter may eventually land at the desks of the Supreme Court.
Had Donald Trump’s trial commenced in the classified documents case, it would have been his closest trial to home. The federal courthouse in Miami just 70 miles south of Mar-a-Lago.
ReutersCannon based her decision largely around Justice Clarence Thomas’ recent concurrence that cast doubt on the legality of special counsel appointments. In his presidential immunity opinion, Thomas questioned whether the Attorney General Merrick Garland violated the U.S. Constitution’s Appointments Clause by appointing a special counsel to an office not created by law, writing that the Executive Branch “cannot create offices at his pleasure.”
Smith urged Cannon last week to not bind herself to the concurrence, which did not represent the unanimous opinion of the court. Cannon rejected that plea on Monday, writing that her decision was based “on the available Supreme Court guidance.”
She also referenced Thomas’ concurrence repeatedly throughout the 93-page decision, in one instance by citing various elements of case law to bolster her decision—including Thomas’ opinion.
Cannon’s order puts the case on ice indefinitely, which is exactly what Trump and his defense team have been pushing for since he was indicted last year on allegations he swiped classified documents from the White House and kept them stored all around Mar-a-Lago, his South Florida estate. He also faced charges for allegedly obstructing the feds’ attempts to retrieve the documents during an FBI raid.
The former president has enjoyed a string of legal victories in recent weeks, including a sweeping Supreme Court ruling that’s given former presidents broad immunity for their official acts while in office and had his sentencing pushed back for his hush-money conviction in New York City.
Legal experts, and Trump’s team themselves, had long considered the classified document case to be the strongest of the four criminal cases against him—largely because his alleged crimes took place explicitly after he’d left the White House and likely could not argue for presidential immunity.
Trump had pleaded not guilty to the charges. On Monday, which is also the first day of the RNC in Milwaukee, Trump reacted to the decision by saying the “lawless indictment in Florida should be just the first step” of having all of his criminal cases dismissed.
“The Democrat Justice Department coordinated ALL of these Political Attacks, which are an Election Interference conspiracy against Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME,” he posted to Truth Social. “Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System.”
