U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has dismissed special counsel Jack Smith's classified documents case against Donald Trump on Monday morning, according to a filing.
Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by Trump, granted the defense motion to dismiss the case Monday, voiding a prosecution that at the time it was brought was seen as the most perilous of the multiple legal threats Trump faced.
Trump called for Biden's Justice Department to "end all weaponization of our justice system," hailing the case dismissal Monday morning in a Truth Social post:
"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!"
The dismissal comes just hours after the start of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the attempted assassination of the former president.
Lawyers for Trump had argued Smith was illicitly appointed in violation of the Constitution's Appointments Clause and that his office was improperly funded by the Justice Department. Smith's team had vigorously contested the argument during hearings before Cannon last month.
A spokesman for the Smith team did not immediately return a request seeking comment.
"Special counsel Smith's use of a permanent indefinite appropriation also violates the Appropriations Clause, U.S. Constitution, but the court need not address the proper remedy for that funding violation given the dismissal on Appointments Clause grounds," Cannon added in her ruling.
It marked another blockbuster legal victory for Trump, following the July 1 Supreme Court ruling that as a former president he enjoyed immunity from prosecution for many of his actions in office.
Prosecutors are likely to appeal the ruling. Courts in other cases have repeatedly upheld the ability of the U.S. Justice Department to appoint special counsels to handle certain politically sensitive investigations.
It marked another blockbuster legal victory for Trump, following the July 1 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that as a former president he enjoyed immunity from prosecution for many of his actions in office.
Prosecutors are likely to appeal the ruling. Courts in other cases have repeatedly upheld the ability of the U.S. Justice Department to appoint special counsels to handle certain politically sensitive investigations.
But Cannon's ruling throws the future of the case, which once posed serious legal peril for Trump, into doubt. Smith is also prosecuting Trump in federal court in Washington over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, but his lawyers have not made a similar challenge to the special counsel in that case.
In the documents case, Trump was indicted on charges that he willfully retained sensitive national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago social club after leaving office and obstructed government efforts to retrieve the material.
Two others, Trump personal aide Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira were also charged with obstructing the investigation.
Trump's lawyers challenged the legal authority for Attorney General Merrick Garland's 2022 decision to appoint Smith to lead investigations into Trump. They argued the appointment violated the U.S. Constitution because his office was not created by Congress and he was not confirmed by the Senate.
Lawyers in Smith's office disputed Trump's claims, arguing there was a well-settled practice of using special counsels to manage politically sensitive investigations.
The ruling is the latest and most consequential in a series of decisions from Cannon favoring Trump's defense and expressing skepticism about the conduct of prosecutors. The judge previously delayed a trial indefinitely while considering a flurry of Trump's legal challenges.
In an unusual move, she allowed three outside lawyers, including two who sided with Trump, to argue during a court hearing focused on Trump's challenge to Smith's appointment.
Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas also provided a boost to Trump's challenge to the special counsel. In an opinion agreeing with the court's decision to grant Trump broad immunity in the election case, Thomas questioned whether Smith's appointment was lawful using similar arguments to those made by Trump's lawyers.
Garland appointed Smith, a public corruption and international war crimes prosecutor, to give investigations into Trump a degree of independence from the Justice Department under Biden's administration.
Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.