July 15, 2024
Case dismissed.
Former President Donald Trump will not be prosecuted for having hundreds of classified documents in his Mar-a-Lago home nor will he be prosecuted for withholding them. At least for now.
That’s because judge Aileen Cannon just issued this 93-page order throwing out the entire case. This is a huge decision. But why? Not because the judge thought Trump was innocent. Judge Cannon threw out the case because she ruled the way special counsel jack smith was appointed was unconstitutional. Therefore it would be illegal for him to bring any case against trump.
Now you’re probably wondering – how this could be — since special prosecutors have been appointed and used multiple times in the past – including right now – there’s a special counsel prosecuting the president son Hunter Biden. And when others have tried to dismiss their indictments from special prosecutors in the past– judges have always said no way.
But judge Cannon sees things differently. Her reasoning is technical — but stay with me. She ruled appointing Jack Smith specifically violates the appointments clause of the constitution. You may not know this but not only are federal judges required to be nominated by a president and confirmed by the senate – but US Attorneys basically prosecutors who work for the Department of Justice must also go through that same process. Well – when the Department of Justice decided to move forward with this these federal cases against former President Trump – they decided to bring on an independent special prosecutor from outside the government so it did not appear like the executive branch was pulling the strings. So they brought in Jack Smith who served as an assistant US Attorney dating back to 1999. Assistant US Attorneys are hired. They are not appointed. And that’s what judge Cannon has a problem with. She says because smith was never nominated by a president nor was he confirmed by the Senate – nor did Congress pass any law allowing him to serve as special prosecutor – he does not have the power of a special prosecutor.
What’s interesting about today’s ruling from judge Cannon — it’s veeeeeeeery similar to the concurring opinion Justice Clarence Thomas wrote just a few weeks ago when the Supreme Court decided presidents do have criminal immunity for official acts. Now – no other justice signed on to justice Thomas’s opinion – but in it –he voluntarily discussed this appointments clause violation and outlined how special counsels may be dismissed.
It’s really important to know – judge Cannon’s ruling did *not* suggest the charges against trump were politically motivated. That’s not why she dismissed the case.
Now—this is not over. Of course – since this is a decision we’ve never seen from any other federal judge — the special counsel will likely appeal this case to the 11th circuit court of appeals. And at the same time Trump is also dealing with the federal election interference case also being brought by special counsel Jack Smith. That case is in front of judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington DC. With this ruling in hand – Trump’s team will likely ask judge Chutkan to dismiss Smith the way judge Cannon did. Judge Chutkan is not required to follow judge Cannon’s ruling. And it’s possible she’ll rule differently. Which means – you guessed it — this whole issue is likely going back to the Supreme Court.
