TL/DR –
Federal Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida has dismissed the indictment accusing former President Donald Trump of mishandling classified documents, concluding that the appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith, who brought the case, was improper. Trump was charged with 40 felony counts for removing documents from the White House and for allegedly hiding them from a grand jury. Prosecutors have stated they will appeal the decision, arguing that the Attorney General is statutorily authorized to appoint a Special Counsel and that the dismissal deviates from this widely held understanding.
Judge Dismisses Trump Classified Documents Case
Florida federal Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the indictment accusing ex-President Donald Trump of mishandling classified documents by taking them from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago club as he left office. Trump faced 40 felony counts for not only taking the documents but also for allegedly hiding them from a federal grand jury.
Judge Cannon, a Trump nominee, ruled in her 93-page decision that Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith, who initiated the case, was improper as there was no statute giving the Attorney General the authority to appoint a Special Counsel.
Prosecutors plan to appeal Cannon’s decision, stating it deviates from other courts’ conclusions regarding the Attorney General’s authority to appoint a Special Counsel. Experts have expressed surprise and concern over the decision.
Cannon’s ruling comes amidst ongoing legal cases involving the former president which include a Supreme Court decision that granted him immunity for many official actions during his term. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a concurrence that Judge Cannon quoted in her dismissal of the Florida documents case.
Trump also faces other criminal indictments. In New York, he was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying records to conceal hush money payments. He appealed that jury verdict. In Washington, D.C., Trump was charged with four felonies in relation to his attempt to overturn the 2020 election result. In Fulton County, Georgia, Trump and 18 others were charged with conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election outcome.
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