Federal judge dismisses Trump classified documents criminal case

A classified documents case against former U.S. President Donald Trump was dismissed on Monday, July 15, 2024. In this photo, Trump speaks to the media as he arrives for his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Hirsch-Pool/Getty Images)

MILWAUKEE —The federal classified documents case against former President Donald Trump was dismissed Monday by a Florida judge on the grounds that the Department of Justice unlawfully appointed special counsel Jack Smith.

The order, while likely to be appealed, makes the possibility even more remote that Trump will be tried before the election on any of the federal charges pending against him. The order came on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, during which Trump will be officially nominated as the 2024 GOP presidential candidate.

Trump, who on Saturday was injured at a Pennsylvania rally in what is being investigated as an attempted assassination, has also been federally charged in Washington, D.C., for his alleged attempts to subvert the 2020 presidential election results. The case is pending as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision.

In May, Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in New York state court for falsifying business records related to a hush money payment ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump’s sentencing has been delayed until September while the court reviews the federal immunity decision.

Trump has also been indicted in Georgia on racketeering charges — though the case is bogged down in personnel matters — and has been ordered to pay hundreds of millions in penalties following multiple civil suits.

Trump reaction: Dismiss all ‘witch hunts’

Trump, who arrived in Milwaukee Sunday, wrote on his social media platform Monday that all cases against him should be dropped following the attempt on his life by the 20-year-old gunman identified by law enforcement as the shooter. The gunman was killed at the scene.

“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

House Speaker Mike Johnson declared the ruling “good news for America and for the rule of law” and a “critically important step” in unifying the country after Saturday’s shooting in Western Pennsylvania.

In a statement issued from Milwaukee, the Louisiana Republican said

“House Republicans repeatedly argued that Special Counsel Jack Smith abused his office’s authority in pursuit of President Trump, and now a federal judge has ruled Smith never possessed the authority in the first place.”

“As we work to unify this country following the failed assassination attempt of President Trump, we must also work to end the lawfare and political witch hunts that have unfairly targeted President Trump and destroyed the American people’s faith in our system of justice,” Johnson continued.

Republican lawmakers largely echoed Johnson.

House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York said in a statement that she applauds District Judge Aileen Cannon’s “courage and wisdom” to dismiss the case brought by the “corrupt” special counsel.

“Case Dismissed! Big win for the rule of law,” South Carolina Congressman Ralph Norman wrote on X.

The GOP’s Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana also posted on the platform: “Winning. More to come. MAGA.”

The dismissal order

In Monday’s 93-page order, Cannon wrote Smith’s appointment violates two clauses of the U.S. Constitution that govern how presidential administrations and Congress appoint and approve “Officers of the United States” and how taxpayer money can be used to pay their salaries and other expenses.

“Upon careful study of the foundational challenges raised in the Motion, the Court is convinced that Special Counsel’s Smith’s prosecution of this action breaches two structural cornerstones of our constitutional scheme—the role of Congress in the appointment of constitutional officers, and the role of Congress in authorizing expenditures by law,” wrote Cannon, who sits on the bench in the Southern District of Florida.

She was nominated by Trump in 2020 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate later that year.

In February, Trump’s team filed the motion to dismiss the case, accusing Smith of being unlawfully appointed and paid.

The classified documents case against Trump presented a historic first for the United States — a former sitting president had never been charged with federal crimes.

A federal grand jury handed up a 37-count indictment in June 2023 charging the former president and his aide Walt Nauta with felonies related to mishandling classified documents after his term in office, including storing them at his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate.

A little over a month later a new indictment was handed up, adding new charges against the former president and also adding Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira as a co-defendant.

Cannon’s order dismisses the July 2023 superseding indictment.

The court will now close the case and cancel any scheduled hearings. Any pending motions are considered moot, according to Cannon’s order.

The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democrats slam ‘misguided ruling’

Cannon’s dismissal of the case was met with shock from Democrats, who view Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents as a serious, prosecutable offense.

The indictment against Trump detailed how U.S. government documents marked “secret” and “confidential” were stored at Mar-a-Lago, an active social club in Palm Beach, in a ballroom, bathroom and shower, bedroom, office space and storage area.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement Monday that the “breathtakingly misguided ruling flies in the face of long-accepted practice and repetitive judicial precedence.”

“It is wrong on the law and must be appealed immediately. This is further evidence that Judge Cannon cannot handle this case impartially and must be reassigned,” the New York Democrat said.

Conor Lamb, a former congressman from Pennsylvania, wrote on X that Saturday’s failed assassination on Trump does not exonerate him from taking and keeping classified records as he left the Oval Office.

“In the same way that the Secret Service’s failure to protect Trump was unacceptable, it was unacceptable for Trump to fail to protect our country’s secrets.  Trump is a victim of the 1st but that doesn’t change that he is the perpetrator of the 2nd.  Accountability for both,” Lamb wrote.

Not Above the Law, a coalition of 150 organizations, issued a statement calling the ruling “flatly wrong.”

“The special counsel statute is clear. Its constitutionality has been upheld by multiple courts in the past, and Judge Cannon has no grounds to reject such a well-settled principle,” read the statement signed by the organization’s four co-chairs.

“Accountability, protecting the rule of law, and justice cannot be further delayed. We expect Judge Cannon’s ruling not only to be swiftly appealed, but also promptly reversed,” continued the statement from Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen; Praveen Fernandes, vice president of the Constitutional Accountability Center; David Sievers, interim organizing director at MoveOn; and Brett Edkins, managing director for policy and political affairs at Stand Up America.

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