Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday threw out the lawfare prosecution against former President Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents after finding the Biden administration unconstitutionally appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith.
As part of the Biden Justice Department’s effort to jail the president’s political opponent, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith to prosecute Trump. The appointment served as the pretext for the armed 2022 raid on Mar-a-Lago — where the use of deadly force was authorized — and led to Smith indicting Trump in June 2023 on 40 federal charges related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Cannon postponed the trial indefinitely in May, and she heard arguments from Trump’s attorneys in June alleging Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional under the Appointments Clause.
Cannon agreed in an order on Monday.
“Former President Trump’s Motion to Dismiss Indictment Based on the Unlawful Appointment and Funding of Special Counsel Jack Smith is GRANTED in accordance with this Order,” Cannon ruled. “The Superseding Indictment is DISMISSED because Special Counsel Smith’s appointment violates the Appointment’s Clause of the United States Constitution.”
Trump’s team questioned whether, according to the Order, “there [is] a statute in the United States Code that authorizes the appointment of Special Counsel Smith to conduct this prosecution?”
“After careful study of this seminal issue, the answer is no,” Cannon ruled.
“None of the statutes cited as legal authority for the appointment … gives the Attorney General broad inferior-officer appointing power or bestows upon him the right
