A Florida judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Donald Trump over classified US Department of Justice documents, a major victory for the former president just days after a gunman tried to assassinate him.
Judge Aileen Cannon has granted Trump’s motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit on the grounds that the Justice Department’s appointment of special counsel Jack Smith violates the Appointments Clause of the US Constitution.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to several charges related to his handling of classified material, including willful retention of national defense information.
Dozens of classified files were found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, including in bathrooms and storage rooms, after Trump left the White House in 2021.
“The court believes that Special Counsel Smith’s prosecution of this action violates two structural foundations of our constitutional program—the role of Congress in appointing constitutional officers and the role of Congress in authorizing statutory spending,” Judge Cannon concluded in Order 93 pages.
The former president faces 40 charges for allegedly mishandling classified documents.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Mr. Smith in 2022 to oversee two federal investigations into the former president.
Judge Cannon said in his ruling that the ruling applied to this case and not a second case Smith oversaw that alleged an effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The former president’s lawyers have not made a similar request to dismiss that lawsuit.
Trump’s recently appointed Florida judge postponed indefinitely The trial heard federal documents, saying there were significant questions about the evidence at trial.
Legal experts have debated the strengths and weaknesses of two federal criminal cases filed by Mr. Smith.
On Monday, Judge Cannon stepped in and said those details were not important.
She argued that the existence of special counsels — the way they are appointed and the way they are funded — violates the US Constitution.
Judge Cannon’s ruling contrasts with that of judges in other U.S. courts that have dealt with these specially appointed prosecutors.
It draws on theories put forth by a number of conservative legal scholars, most notably by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on the high court. The presidential immunity case has just been decided.
Her decision also comes as Republicans gather in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the Republican National Convention, where Trump will formally be nominated as the party’s presidential candidate later this week.
Mr. Smith will be able to appeal Monday’s ruling and ask for a new judge to be appointed to the case. Depending on the outcome of that appeal, the losing party could move to the U.S. Supreme Court.
He has yet to comment publicly on Judge Cannon’s ruling.
On Monday, Trump said on his social media page that dismissing the case “should only be the first step, followed by the dismissal of ALL Witch Hunts.”
“Let’s come together to end the weaponization of the justice system and make America great again!”
While many Republican lawmakers welcomed the decision, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, described the dismissal as a “shockingly wrong ruling” that must be appealed immediately.
In May, Trump was convicted of falsifying business records in a New York hush money case. He is due to be sentenced in September.
He was also charged with four criminal counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to defraud citizens, in the 2020 election case.
Trump and about 18 other defendants are also accused of conspiring to overturn his narrow loss in Georgia in the 2020 election in a separate case.
He has denied any wrongdoing.
