A FEDERAL judge has dismissed the criminal case against Donald Trump that accused him of mishandling classified documents.
Judge Aileen Cannon ruled on Monday that special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment in the case violated the Constitution.
In her 93-page order, Cannon wrote because Smith was not appointed the role of special counsel by President Joe Biden or confirmed by the Senate, his role in overviewing the case violated the appointments clause of the Constitution.
“Upon careful study of the foundational challenges raised in the Motion, the Court is convinced that Special Counsel’s Smith’s prosecution of this action breaches two structural cornerstones of our constitutional scheme,” Cannon wrote in her ruling.
“The role of Congress in the appointment of constitutional officers, and the role of Congress in authorizing expenditures by law.
“The Framers gave Congress a pivotal role in the appointment of principal and inferior officers.
“The role cannot be usurped by the Executive Branch or diffused elsewhere – whether in this case or in another case, whether in times of heightened national need or not.”
During a four-hour hearing on June 21, Trump’s defense team requested to dismiss the case in its entirety, arguing that Smith was improperly appointed to lead the investigation.
Trump’s attorney, Emil Bove, argued that because Attorney General Merrick Garland repeatedly said Smith was acting independently, the special counsel should be considered a “principal officer.”
A principal officer is defined as a top government official who has no immediate supervisor and whose appointment requires Senate approval, according to the appointments clause of the Constitution.
Cannon also ruled that Smith’s use of “permanent indefinite appropriation,” funding for his prosecution office, violated the appointments class.
The Department of Justice is likely to appeal the decision, which could send the issue to the Supreme Court.
The stunning ruling eliminates one of Trump‘s most major legal challenges since leaving the Oval Office.
Trump, 78, was charged last year with illegally hoarding classified government documents after leaving the White House in January 2021.
A federal raid on his Mar-a-Lago beach club in Palm Beach, Florida, in August 2022 uncovered thousands of documents on the estate grounds.
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