On Monday, a federal judge in Florida dismissed the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, siding with defense lawyers who said the special counsel who filed the charges was illegally appointed by the Justice Department. The criminal case was widely regarded as the most serious of all the legal threats that Trump faced.
According to court documents (SEEN HERE), U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon granted Trump’s dismissal of the case, ruling the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith violates the Appointments Clause of the Constitution. Cannon raised questions about the “broad power” given to Smith, noting that as of September 2023, Smith recorded more than $12.8 million in direct expenses from what Cannon called an “indefinite appropriation.
Smith was appointed in November 2022 to lead the investigation and ensuing prosecution of Trump for allegedly mishandling and refusing to turn over classified documents, including documents related to national security — the former president was indicted on 37 felony charges. Smith also serves as special counsel in the Washington case against Trump over his role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election and in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
In her 93-page ruling, Judge Cannon also argued that the Appointments Clause gives Congress a larger role in the appointment of a special counsel, writing: “The Framers gave Congress a pivotal role in the appointment of principal and inferior officers. That role cannot be usurped by the Executive Branch or diffused elsewhere. 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.”
Cannon also wrote in the order: “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. 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.”
In a statement on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said that the dismissal “should be just the first step” and that the three other cases – which he dubbed “Witch Hunts” – should also be thrown out.
The decision by Cannon is expected to be appealed, and may eventually be overturned by a higher court; however, the judge’s order is a significant legal and political victory for Trump as he prepares to accept the Republican nomination in Milwaukee this week.
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