Judge Dismisses Trump Classified-Documents Case, Rules Special Counsel Appointment Unconstitutional

A federal judge dismissed the classified-documents case against former president Donald Trump on Monday, ruling that Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional.

Judge Aileen Cannon of Florida granted the defense’s motion to dismiss the superseding indictment in a Monday order, citing a violation of the appointments clause. Federal prosecutors had charged Trump with illegally retaining classified documents after leaving the White House and storing them at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

“Upon careful study of the foundational challenges raised in the Motion, the Court is convinced that Special Counsel’s 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,” Cannon wrote in her 93-page opinion.

The move comes two days after the failed assassination attempt on Trump’s life and on the same day as the start of the Republican National Convention.

Trump faced 40 separate charges in the documents case before they were ultimately dismissed. The felony counts are as follows: willful retention of national-defense information; withholding or concealing documents in a federal investigation; false statements; altering, destroying, mutilating, or concealing an object or record; and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Cannon chose to dismiss the federal case because Garland unlawfully appointed Smith, whom the president did not nominate nor did the Senate confirm for his prosecutorial position. Moreover, Congress did not appropriate funds to Smith’s investigation as required under federal law.

“The Special Counsel’s position effectively usurps that important legislative authority, transferring it to a Head of Department, and in the process threatening the structural liberty inherent in the separation of powers,” the Trump-appointed judge wrote. “If the political branches wish to grant the Attorney General power to appoint Special Counsel Smith to investigate and prosecute this action with the full powers of a United States Attorney, there is a valid means by which to do so.”

Cannon closed the classified-documents case, but noted that the ruling does not affect any of Trump’s other legal proceedings.

The former president still faces two other criminal cases, both revolving around his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Smith is prosecuting the federal case, while Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis is specifically focusing on election subversion in Georgia. Trump has already been convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in his hush-money case.

It’s likely that the Department of Justice will appeal Cannon’s decision, which could possibly end up before the Supreme Court. Trump’s legal team considered the classified-documents case to be the strongest of the four criminal cases against him.

Trump celebrated the ruling in a Truth Social post, saying “this dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step” in dismissing the other cases against him and ending the weaponization of the federal government.

Republican lawmakers reacted positively to the latest news, with some calling the dismissal a major win for Trump and a devastating blow to Smith and the DOJ.