Who is Judge Aileen Cannon? What's next in Donald Trump's classified documents case?

It's over.

Maybe.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday, July 15, dismissed the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, saying the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith violated the Constitution.

➤ RNC 2024 live updates: Trump expected to reveal VP pick in the wake of stunning shooting.

The announcement came on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Trump is expected to announce his 2024 running mate today, a decision that comes after an assassination attempt Saturday, July 13.

The Justice Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, but it is expected to appeal Cannon's ruling.

Trump was charged with mishandling classified documents

Trump faced dozens of felony charges in the classified documents case, including willful retention of national defense information and conspiring to obstruct justice. He denied wrongdoing and filed motion after motion seeking to dismiss the charges against him.

The former president was accused of taking more than 300 classified documents when he left the White House in January 2021.

Those documents allegedly included information on U.S. and foreign military capabilities.

The documents were found by the FBI in August 2022 at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Who is Judge Aileen Cannon?

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon was assigned to oversee the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump.

Her background includes:

• She was born in Cali, Colombia, in 1981. Cannon came to the U.S. as a child, graduating from Duke University in 2003.

• Before becoming a judge, Aileen Cannon was a federal prosecutor.

• She is a member of the Federalist Society, which she joined while in 2005 while in law school.

• Cannon had been a lawyer for just 12 years, the minimum tenure set by American Bar Association, before her ascent to the judiciary.  Florida Republican U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott recommended Cannon's appointment and the U.S. Senate confirmed her in a 56-21 vote in November 2020.

• She was nominated to the federal bench by Trump.

• Trump's case wasn't her first high-profile case.  In April 2022, she sentenced a Palm Beach County man to 18 months in prison for making death threats against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York.

How was Aileen Cannon chosen to preside over Trump's classified documents trial?

A computerized system chose Cannon, 42, of Vero Beach, Florida, from among five eligible judges in the federal court district.

She is the only U.S. district judge assigned to the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, the northernmost outpost of the South Florida district that includes West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

The chief clerk of the court said about half of Cannon's cases come from the West Palm Beach division, where Mar-a-Lago is.

Why did Judge Cannon dismiss Trump's case?

Cannon, who was nominated to the federal bench by Trump, agreed with the former president's argument that Smith's appointment in the case violated a constitutional provision requiring “Officers of the United States” to be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

Smith was appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Garland appointed Smith without seeking Senate approval for that action.

"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.

"The bottom line is this: The Appointments Clause is a critical constitutional restriction stemming from the separation of powers, and it gives to Congress a considered role in determining the propriety of vesting appointment power for inferior officers," Cannon wrote.

"The Special Counsel’s position effectively usurps that important legislative authority, transferring it to a Head of Department, and in the process threatening the structural liberty inherent in the separation of powers."

Read Judge Cannon's ruling in its entirety

What did Trump say after the classified documents case was dismissed?

Trump posted on Truth Social shortly after the ruling that the case's dismissal "should be just the first step" in moving forward after Saturday's assassination attempt against him at a political rally in Pennsylvania.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Trump Florida documents case: Judge Aileen Cannon's background