In a landmark decision, former President Donald Trump succeeded in having the classified documents case against him dismissed on Monday after a federal judge ruled special counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, an appointee of Trump, granted his motion to dismiss the indictment, finding Attorney General Merrick Garland did not correctly appoint Smith. The dismissal was grounded in two violations of constitutional clauses: the appointments clause and the appropriations clause.
“The Superseding Indictment is dismissed because Special Counsel Smith’s appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution,” Cannon wrote in a 93-page ruling.
The decision means that the classified documents case against Trump will no longer proceed, although Smith will have the ability to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. That appeals court previously reversed Cannon’s decision to appoint a special master to review classified documents before the 40-count indictment was levied against Trump in the summer of 2023.
Trump’s defense challenged the legality of Smith’s appointment and the funding of his office, leading to a complex legal battle over constitutional principles and statutory interpretation. The court sided with Trump, emphasizing that the appointments clause serves as a critical safeguard in maintaining the separation of powers and ensuring democratic accountability.
The classified documents case has been seen by legal experts of one of the most damning indictments against Trump, in part because Smith had gathered a massive volume of evidence that he sought to use against Trump at trial. As Trump navigates two similar election-related indictments in Georgia and Washington, D.C., he awaits sentencing in September after a jury found him guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in New York earlier this summer.
The case began when a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida indicted Trump in June 2023 on multiple counts of willful retention of national defense information at his Mar-a-Lago residence, as well as conspiracy and concealment charges involving Trump and his associates. The indictment was signed by Smith, who was appointed by Garland in November 2022.
The former president and his aides Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira were charged in an alleged scheme to impede the federal probe, and all three pleaded not guilty.
For Trump, the dismissal represents a significant legal victory, removing one of three major legal threats remaining against him, and it comes just two days after he survived an attempted assassination and on the day of the start of the Republican National Convention, where he is expected to unveil his vice presidential pick.
The former president responded to Cannon’s decision in a statement on his Truth Social platform, stating “The Democrat Justice Department coordinated ALL of these Political Attacks, which are an Election Interference conspiracy against Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME.”
Despite concerns by some Democrats and critics of the former president that he would use a hypothetical second term to punish his political enemies using the powers of the DOJ, Trump’s statement called for unity and to “END all Weaponization of our Justice System, and Make America Great Again!”
However, the decision by Cannon raises questions about the future of similar prosecutions and the mechanisms by which special counsels are appointed and funded in the United States. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which handles appeals in Smith’s 2020 election subversion case against him, previously found the appointment of special counsels lawful in challenges brought against Robert Mueller’s appointment to investigate alleged Russian interference into the 2016 presidential election.
Trump attorney Alina Habba called the dismissal of the case the “first step in ending the weaponization of our justice system, restoring the rule of law, and Making America Great Again.”
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the federal government must appeal the decision up to the 11th Circuit.
“This 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,” Schumer posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
