A federal judge dismissed in its entirety the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump on Monday, ruling that the appointment of the special counsel, Jack Smith, had violated the Constitution.
In a stunning ruling, the judge, Aileen M. Cannon, found that because Smith had not been named to the post of special counsel by the president or confirmed by the Senate, his appointment was in violation of the appointments clause of the Constitution.
(Southern District of Florida via The New York Times) In an undated image provided by the Southern District of Florida, Judge Aileen M. Cannon. Cannon on July 15, 2024 dismissed in its entirety the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, ruling that the appointment of the special counsel, Jack Smith, had violated the Constitution.
The ruling by Cannon, who was put on the bench by Trump, flew in the face of previous court decisions reaching back to the Watergate era that upheld the legality of the ways in which independent prosecutors have been named. And in a single swoop, it removed a major legal threat against Trump on the first day of the Republican National Convention, where he is set to formally become the party’s nominee for president.
Smith’s team will almost certainly appeal the ruling by Cannon throwing out the classified documents indictment, which charges Trump with illegally holding onto a trove of highly sensitive state secrets after he left office and then obstructing the government’s repeated efforts to retrieve them.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.