Judge dismisses Donald Trump’s classified documents case

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a presidential debate hosted by CNN with President Joe Biden, Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

(ABC NEWS)– The classified documents case against former President Donald Trump was dismissed Monday by the federal judge overseeing the case.

The ruling dismisses one of the two cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith, who is also overseeing the election interference case against the former president.

Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that Smith’s appointment as special counsel overseeing the documents case was unconstitutional.

“The Superseding Indictment is DISMISSED because Special Counsel Smith’s appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution,” she wrote.

Cannon wrote that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional because it “effectively usurps” the authority of Congress.

Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 40 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back.

Smith was appointed as special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November of 2022. Cannon last month heard arguments from Trump’s attorneys seeking to have the classified documents case on the grounds that Smith was unlawfully appointed.

“The Framers gave Congress a pivotal role in the appointment of principal and inferior officers,” Cannon wrote in her lengthy order Monday. “That role cannot be usurped by the Executive Branch or diffused elsewhere — whether in this case or in another case, whether in times of heightened national need or not.”

“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 added.

Multiple sources told ABC News that Trump and his camp feel the dismissal is an act of “divine intervention,” saying Trump is thrilled.

The sources said those around Trump “hope and expect the same logic will apply to the D.C. case.”

“President Trump is relieved and happy that he can move on,” the sources said.

Trump, writing on his social media platform two days after surviving an assassination attempt, called for the dismissal of all remaining cases against him, saying, “As we move forward in Uniting our Nation after the horrific events on Saturday, this dismissal … should be just the first step.”

In addition to the Jan. 6 case, the former president faces charges in the Georgia election interference case and in May was found guilty in New York of falsifying business records related to a 2016 hush money payment in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election. He has pleaded not guilty in all cases and has said he will appeal the hush money verdict.

Judge Cannon noted that her ruling does not apply to other jurisdictions, meaning the order may not apply to the special counsel’s Jan. 6 election interference case against Trump.

A spokesperson for the special counsel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The order can be appealed, and other district judges and the D.C. Circuit Court have upheld the constitutionality of special counsels in previous legal challenges.

If overturned on appeal, the order could also give rise to Smith moving for Cannon to be taken off the case, citing her pattern of unusually favorable rulings that have benefited Trump and raised the eyebrows of legal experts across the political spectrum.