Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump on Monday, ruling that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith by the Department of Justice violated the appointments clause of the U.S. Constitution. According to Cannon's ruling, Smith should have been appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate like other high-level officers.
"The Special Counsel's position effectively usurps that important legislative authority, transferring it to a Head of Department, and in the process threatening the structural liberty inherent in the separation of powers," she opined in a 93-page document justifying the dismissal of Smith's indictment. Trump had been charged with illegally hiding sensitive government documents in his Mar-a-Lago residence after leaving office.
The ruling, which clashes with precedent set by previous court decisions over the appointment of independent prosecutors since the Watergate scandal, at least for now removes a major legal threat to Trump and confirms the worst fears of critics who questioned the Trump-appointee's partiality and competence.
The Supreme Court's decision to grant Trump immunity over "official acts" may have portended the decision by Cannon, who approved Trump's request to delay the trial so that the ruling could be evaluated. She then cited Judge Clarence Thomas three times in her own ruling to dismiss the indictment.
"In Trump's immunity ruling, Justice Thomas all but invited Judge Cannon to find Jack Smith was unconstitutionally appointed as special counsel," MSNBC's Adam Klasfeld commented. "Cannon noticed."
The special counsel's team can appeal the ruling to the 11th Circuit and ask for a new judge, but the process will further delay a case that was already unlikely to go to trial before November.
