A Florida judge dismissed the case against former President Trump for the handling of classified documents, and some legal experts are calling it a “strongly reasoned” opinion that eliminates the “greatest legal threat” to the presumptive 2024 GOP just ahead of the Republican National Convention.
On Monday, Florida District Judge Aileen Cannon issued a 93-page opinion dismissing the case on the grounds that the appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith to oversee the case was unconstitutional.
“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 – the role of Congress in the appointment of constitutional officers, and the role of Congress in authorizing expenditures by law,” Cannon wrote.
Jonathan Turley, a defense attorney and law professor at George Washington University, told Fox News Monday that “of all of the cases that could be dismissed, this would be at the top of the list. This was the greatest threat. And for now, at least, it’s gone.”
SPECIAL COUNSEL IN TRUMP CASE UNCONSTITUTIONAL, FORMER REAGAN AG SAYS
Special Counsel Jack Smith arrives to give remarks on a recently unsealed indictment including four felony counts against former U.S. President Donald Trump on August 1, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Trump had faced charges stemming from special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into his possession of classified materials at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. He pleaded not guilty to all 37 felony counts from Smith’s probe, including willful retention of national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statements.
John Malcolm, a former federal prosecutor and director of the Ed Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, said that the case brought by Smith was the “most serious of the four criminal cases that were filed against him.”
A representative for Smith did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s request for comment and whether the Justice Department plans to appeal the decision.
JUDGE DISMISSES TRUMP’S FLORIDA CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS CASE
Former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida was searched by the FBI in 2022. (Getty Images)
John Yoo, a constitutional attorney, told Fox news Digital that the question of constitutionality of special counsel has been debated for over 20 years. “We’ve been thinking and talking about this, these people who specialize in the Appointments Clause. The courts have generally been deferential to the Justice Department and how they want to appoint different lawyers.”
“But I think because of how aggressive Jack Smith has been, he prompted close scrutiny from the courts,” said Yoo.
Yoo said Cannon’s decision is “a very thorough, strongly reasoned, persuasive opinion [that] goes through the history of special counsels and all the statutes that are involved.”
“This decision is very well-reasoned and very well-written,” said John Shu, a constitutional attorney who served in both Bush administrations. “It’s not surprising because Congress intentionally allowed the independent counsel statute, which the Supreme Court found constitutional, to lapse, and they never replaced or amended it.”
“And thus Congress, through its inaction, just allowed the regulatory agency, in this case the DOJ, to go ahead and promulgate its own regulations in place of an actual enabling statute,” he explained.
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Former President Donald Trump holds a rally in the historically Democratic South Bronx on May 23, 2024 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Monday’s decision is the latest in a string of legal victories for the former president. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ruled that he and future presidents are granted limited immunity from prosecution for official acts in office. That decision directly impacted Smith’s separate case against Trump related to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
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“All of these cases seem to be collapsing of their own weight, and it’s because of lawfare,” said Jim Trusty, a former federal prosector and former lawyer for Trump.
“This is the price of lawfare when you create different crimes and different investigative approaches, and you do it all in the name of self-righteousness that Donald Trump needs to be stopped, which is really the philosophy behind all these prosecutions.”
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