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Donald Trump’s classified documents case was dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday, ruling that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith violated the Constitution.
Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by the former president, wrote in the bombshell order: “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.”
Because Smith wasn’t named as special counsel by the president or confirmed by the Senate, his appointment violated the appointments clause of the Constitution, she ruled.
In June 2023, the former president was charged with mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House in January 2021. The indictment marked the first time a current or former president had ever been charged with a federal crime.
One month later, he was hit with additional charges in a superseding indictment.
Trump had been fighting for the case to be thrown out ever since, with his attorneys arguing in several recent court hearings and filings that Smith’s appointment and the funding of his office was unlawful.
Cannon’s dismissal of the case goes against previous decisions dating back to the 1970s around the appointment of independent prosecutors.
Read the judge’s full court order here:
