(NewsNation) — Judge Aileen Cannon has dismissed the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump.
Cannon dismissed the case on the grounds that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith violated the appointments clause of the Constitution.
The case was one of four against the former president. Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies in a business fraud case in New York ,and the two election cases against him, one in federal court and one in Georgia, remain in legal limbo.
The case against Trump
The classified documents case centered around allegations that Trump had improperly retained and stored classified documents after he left the White House, taking them to his Mar-a-Lago home and refusing to return them at the request of the National Archives and Records Administration.
After multiple attempts by the government to recover the records with Trump’s cooperation, the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago and recovered boxes of documents.
Smith brought an indictment against Trump, charging him with violating the Espionage Act, making false statements and obstructing justice.
Pretrial delays
In pretrial proceedings, Cannon, a Trump appointee, moved slowly to hear and consider motions brought by both defense and prosecution. The speed led some to accuse her of incompetence or even suggest she was helping the defense.
Earlier in the year, Cannon indefinitely delayed the case as she considered motions around classified material and how it could be used in court. The delay was widely considered a win for Trump’s team, who were working to delay the trials against him until after the November election.
The decision to dismiss the case comes after a Supreme Court ruling that found presidents have immunity for official acts. While the decision in this case does not rely on the Supreme Court ruling, the constitutionality of the special counsel was raised by Justice Clarence Thomas in his concurring opinion.
“If there is no law establishing the office that the Special Counsel occupies, then he cannot proceed with this prosecution. A private citizen cannot criminally prosecute anyone, let alone a former President,” Thomas wrote.
Special appointments
Trump’s lawyers argued that Smith’s appointment by the Department of Justice was not constitutional. Under the appointments clause, senior officials are supposed to be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
Trump’s lawyers argued that because of the power Smith holds, his role should be considered as a senior official and be subject to approval by the Senate.
The Justice Department appointed Smith independently through a process set up after the expiration of an independent counsel law that was in place during the 1980s and 1990s, which allowed a court panel to appoint independent investigators to handle politically sensitive cases.
The DOJ process exists under regulations set up at the end of the Clinton administration and is designed to allow an independent investigator to handle politically sensitive matters.
Cannon pushed back against the argument from Smith’s office that his appointment was in line with historical practice.
“In the end, it seems the Executive’s growing comfort in appointing ‘regulatory’ special
counsels in the more recent era has followed an ad hoc pattern with little judicial scrutiny,” she wrote. “Perhaps this can be traced back to reliance on stray dictum in Nixon that perpetuated in subsequent cases. Perhaps it can be justified practically by the urgency of national crises. Or perhaps it can be explained by the relative infrequency of these types of investigations, by congressional inattention, or by the important roles that special-counsel-like figures have played in our country’s history.”
Reactions to the decision
On Truth Social, Trump called the case a witch hunt and blamed President Joe Biden for the prosecution.
“Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System, and Make America Great Again!” Trump said.
After rejecting the prosecution’s argument, Cannon ordered the case dismissed. The special counsel’s office has not yet said if it plans to appeal the ruling.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., condemned the ruling.
“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,” he said.
Read the full ruling:
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.