Judge Dismisses Trump Classified Docs Case

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Facts

• US Judge Aileen Cannon ruled Monday that the US Dept. of Justice's (DOJ) appointment of Jack Smith as a special counsel to probe former Pres. Donald Trump's handling of classified documents was 'unlawful' and she dismissed the case.¹
• Cannon ruled that Smith's appointment violated the Constitution's 'Appointments Clause,' which requires the appointments of 'Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States' to be confirmed by the Senate.²
• She added that none of the 'statutes cited by the Special Counsel' gives the attorney general the 'authority to appoint a Special Counsel like Smith, who does not assist a United States Attorney but who replaces the role of United States Attorney within his jurisdiction.'³
• She further ruled that the indefinite funding of Smith's prosecutorial team violated the Appropriations Clause of the Constitution. Smith is currently also prosecuting Trump on charges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, and it's unclear how this ruling will impact that case.⁴
• She further ruled that the indefinite funding of Smith's prosecutorial team violated the Appropriations Clause of the Constitution. Smith is currently also prosecuting Trump on charges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, and it's unclear how this ruling will impact that case.⁵
• Cannon suggested Smith's legal team could restructure how it's funded, but also noted that 'The Court has difficulty seeing how a remedy short of dismissal would cure this substantial separation-of-powers violation.'⁶
• Smith was prosecuting Trump for allegedly keeping classified documents of military and national security importance after leaving office in 2021. Smith's office is arguing that his appointment was in line with previous special prosecutors.⁷

Sources: ¹NBC, ²FOX News, ³Washington Post, ⁴The Daily Signal, ⁵Breitbart, ⁶CNN and ⁷Reuters.

Narratives

• Anti-Trump narrative, as provided by The New Republic. It appears Cannon, a Trump appointee, is thanking him through all her recent rulings in his favor. Trump was caught red-handed hiding classified documents, but Cannon initially delayed the trial and now has dismissed the case. Conservative-leaning appeals court judges have reversed her in the past, so the inexperienced Cannon may rightly be overruled again.
• Pro-Trump narrative, as provided by Townhall. Cannon's ruling doesn't take Trump under consideration, it upholds the Constitution. Smith's office wasn't created by Congress nor was he nominated by the president to receive Senate approval — thus he's been illegally investigating Trump. The Biden administration's weaponization of the DOJ has again hit a snag.

Predictions