Former President Donald Trump scored a big win Monday as Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the federal classified documents case against him.
Trump was charged with storing highly sensitive national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and then obstructed the government efforts’s to get them back, per Politico.
Cannon issued a 93-page ruling and concluded special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.
Smith is likely to appeal the ruling, per the outlet.
“The Special Counsel’s position effectively usurps … legislative authority, transferring it to a Head of Department, and in the process threatening the structural liberty inherent in the separation of powers,” ruled Cannon, a Trump appointee.
She did not rule on whether Trump’s behavior was legal, CNN reported.
“Adopting the position of the Special Counsel allows any Attorney General, without Congressional input, to circumvent this statutory scheme and appoint one-off special counsels to wield the immense power of a United States Attorney,” the judge wrote.
“If the political branches wish to grant the Attorney General power to appoint Special Counsel Smith to investigate and prosecute this action with the full powers of a United States Attorney, there is a valid means by which to do so,” Cannon wrote.
“He can be appointed and confirmed through the default method prescribed in the Appointments Clause, as Congress has directed for United States Attorneys throughout American history, or Congress can authorize his appointment through enactment of positive statutory law consistent with the Appointments Clause,” the judge said.
Trump responded with all the cases against him should be dropped.
“As me 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,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Trump said the cases against him were “Political Attacks.”
“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!” Trump wrote.
The FBI raided Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, in August 2022. This was part of an investigation into how Trump handled presidential documents.
Several Republican lawmakers lauded the judge’s decision.
