Miami: A Florida judge appointed by Donald Trump on Monday dismissed one of the criminal cases against him over allegations he mishandled top secret documents – against a decision by the prosecution to appeal.
The appeal was a stunning victory for Trump, effectively removing a major legal threat against the former president, who faces other criminal cases he says should also be thrown out.
The court decision added to Trump’s seemingly unstoppable momentum on the first day of the Republican National Convention, where he became the party’s official nominee to run against President Joe Biden just days after surviving an assassination attempt.
In her ruling, Judge Aileen Cannon said special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the charges, had been appointed illegally and that the case should therefore be thrown out.
Smith was appointed in 2022 by Biden’s appointee, Attorney General Merrick Garland, to oversee the investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents after he left office, as well as his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Peter Carr, a spokesman for Smith’s office, said the prosecutor had been instructed by the Justice Department to appeal Cannon’s decision.
“The dismissal of the case departs from the unanimous conclusion of all previous courts that have addressed the issue that the attorney general is legally authorized to appoint a special counsel,” Carr said in a statement.
The Trump-appointed judge ruled after the 78-year-old’s lawyers argued for a partial stay to allow for a new Supreme Court ruling that the former president has broad immunity from prosecution for actions taken by his official. the role of president.
In a 93-page opinion, Cannon said Smith’s appointment and funding usurped the role of Congress, echoing a recent opinion put forward by Clarence Thomas, one of the conservatives who dominate the Supreme Court.
“The Court is convinced that … Smith’s prosecution of this action violates two structural cornerstones of our constitutional scheme — the role of Congress in appointing constitutional officers and the role of Congress in authorizing expenditures by law,” she concluded.
“The clerk is ordered to close this case,” the judge wrote.
Cannon has not ruled on the merits of the case, which critics have accused her of moving slowly.
The judge’s ruling followed Trump’s victory earlier this month in a Supreme Court ruling on immunity.
The decision helped Trump in his bid to delay the trials he faces until after the November election.
These include charges in Washington and Georgia related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election he lost to Biden.
But one of the cases that dogged Trump on the campaign trail has already resulted in a conviction: In May, he was found guilty in New York of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up secret payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, who claimed a sexual encounter with the real estate mogul .
“This rejection of Florida’s Lawless Indictment should be just the first step, quickly followed by the dismissal of ALL witch hunts,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Reaction to the decision was divided along an ideological divide.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson hailed the ruling as “good news for America and the rule of law” and called on the government to end the “witch hunt,” especially in the wake of the weekend assassination attempt on Trump.
Eric Holder, who was attorney general under President Barack Obama, said the dismissal of the case was “so devoid of legal justification that it is absolutely absurd.”
The decision was “all about delay” and the “incompetent” Cannon should be removed, he added.
In the case, Trump faced 31 counts of “willful withholding of national defense information,” each of which could have been punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
He also faced charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and perjury.
Trump reportedly kept classified documents — including Pentagon and CIA records — unsecured at his Mar-a-Lago home and thwarted efforts to retrieve them.
The material, according to prosecutors, included classified nuclear and defense documents.
Republicans argued the prosecution was unfair and selective after federal prosecutors decided in February not to pursue charges against Biden, who kept some classified materials after leaving the vice presidency in 2017. Biden cooperated in returning his documents
