UPDATE: Special Counsel Jack Smith will appeal a judge’s order dismissing the classified documents case against Donald Trump.
Peter Carr, a spokesman for Smith, said in a statement to reporters, “The dismissal of the case deviates from the uniform conclusion of all previous courts to have considered the issue that the Attorney General is statutorily authorized to appoint a special counsel. The Justice Department has authorized the Special Counsel to appeal the court’s order.”
PREVIOUSLY: A federal judge Monday tossed out the criminal classified documents case against Donald Trump, ruling that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith violated the appointments clause of the Constitution.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon issued the ruling today. Trump had been charged with withholding documents and obstructing justice after he left the White House.
“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.
“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—whether in this case or in another case, whether in times of heightened national need or not. In the case of inferior officers, that means that Congress is empowered to decide if it wishes to vest appointment power in a Head of Department, and indeed, Congress has proven itself quite capable of doing so in many other statutory contexts. But it plainly did not do so here, despite the Special Counsel’s strained statutory readings.”
Cannon was appointed to the bench by Trump.
Her ruling is the latest bombshell in Trump’s legal proceedings. Last year, he faced four separate series of indictments in state and federal court. But Smith, appointed special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland, brought a classified documents case against the former president that was viewed as the most clear cut. His indictment alleged that Trump mishandled the documents — with pictures of boxes of papers on a Mar-A-Lago stage and bathroom — and that he withheld them after federal authorities asked for their return.
The ruling comes just hours before the start of the Republican National Convention, where Trump, having survived an assassination attempt over the weekend, is expected to appear this evening.
Click to read Cannon’s dismissal.
Today’s ruling parallels some of the arguments made by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in a concurring opinion last month in which a majority of justices said that presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts. Thomas went further, arguing that Justice Department special counsels are unconstitutional because they do not have congressional authorization.
Trump was convicted in a New York court in May on 34 counts of falsifying business records. His sentencing is scheduled for September 18, but his legal team also is challenging that conviction based on the recent Supreme Court immunity ruling.
Smith has not yet said whether he will appeal Cannon’s decision, but it could create an opening for him to seek a new judge, legal observers have said. It also means additional delays in the proceedings. Cannon had not yet set a new trial date, and in recent months it looked increasing doubtful that it would start before the 2024 election.
Trump reacted to the dismissal with a statement on his social media platform, Truth Social, writing, “As we move forward in Uniting our Nation after the horrific events on Saturday, this dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts — The January 6th Hoax in Washington, D.C., the Manhattan D.A.’s Zombie Case, the New York A.G. Scam, Fake Claims about a woman I never met (a decades old photo in a line with her then husband does not count), and the Georgia “Perfect” Phone Call charges. The Democrat Justice Department coordinated ALL of these Political Attacks, which are an Election Interference conspiracy against Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME. Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System, and Make America Great Again!”
Cannon’s ruling — and Thomas’ earlier dissent — suggest that all special counsels are unconstitutional. As NewsNation’s Dan Abrams pointed out, that argument also would raise questions about the legality of the prosecution of other recent cases, including that of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.
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