July 15th 2024.
In a surprising turn of events, the federal judge overseeing the case of former President Donald Trump's classified documents in Florida has dismissed the charges. This decision was made in favor of the defense lawyers' argument that the special counsel who filed the charges was appointed illegally by the Justice Department. This brings a swift and unexpected end to a case that was once considered to be the most serious legal threat to the Republican former president.
Although the case had been at a standstill for some time and a trial before the November election was no longer a realistic possibility, Judge Aileen Cannon's ruling is a major legal victory for Trump. This comes as he recovers from an assassination attempt over the weekend and prepares to accept the Republican nomination this week in Milwaukee. As the investigation into the attempted assassination continues, preparations for the Republican National Convention are also underway.
This dismissal marks yet another stroke of luck for Trump in his four criminal cases. While he was convicted in his hush money trial in New York back in May, the sentencing has been postponed due to a Supreme Court ruling that grants former presidents with broad immunity. This same ruling will also result in significant delays in another case where Trump is accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election results. Additionally, a case in Atlanta alleging election tampering has also been delayed due to a conflict of interest between the district attorney and a special prosecutor.
Trump took to social media to release a statement following the dismissal, calling it "just the first step" and urging for the other three cases, which he labeled as "witch hunts", to also be dismissed. The classified documents case was seen as the most clear-cut of the four, as prosecutors had gathered a substantial amount of evidence and the alleged misconduct occurred after Trump had left the White House in 2021. The indictment included numerous felony charges accusing him of illegally withholding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and obstructing the FBI's attempts to retrieve them. Trump had maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty.
The defense team had raised multiple challenges to the case, including a technical argument that the special counsel, Jack Smith, had been appointed illegally under the Constitution's Appointments Clause. They also argued that his office was improperly funded by the Justice Department. In her 93-page order, Judge Cannon granted the defense's request to dismiss the case, stating that the special counsel's position was a threat to the separation of powers and the authority of Congress. She also noted that if the political branches wanted to appoint a special counsel with the same power as a United States Attorney, they could do so through congressional approval.
This decision is just another example of Judge Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, handling the case in a way that benefits the former president. During the FBI's investigation, she had appointed an independent arbiter to review the classified documents found during the search of Mar-a-Lago in August 2022. However, this decision was later overturned by a federal appeals panel. Since then, Judge Cannon has been slow to make rulings, which has played into Trump's strategy of delaying the case. She has also entertained arguments from the defense that other judges would have dismissed without a hearing. In May, she postponed the trial indefinitely due to unresolved legal issues.
The special counsel's team had strongly opposed the defense's argument regarding the Appointments Clause during a hearing last month, stating that even if the judge ruled in their favor, it would not warrant the dismissal of the case. They also pointed out that this argument had been rejected in other courts in similar cases involving other special counsels from the Justice Department. However, Judge Cannon was not convinced and deemed the prosecution's claims to be "strained". She also stated that there was no statute in the United States Code that authorized the appointment of Special Counsel Smith to lead this prosecution.
At the time of writing, there has been no comment from the Smith team, and the Trump team also did not have a statement prepared.
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