A Florida judge appointed by Donald Trump has dismissed on Monday the criminal case against him on charges of mishandling top secret documents, a stunning victory for the former president who immediately called for his other pending cases to be dismissed as well.
The decision effectively removes a major legal threat for Trump, who faces multiple criminal cases as he tries to regain the White House from US President Joe Biden.
It added to his seemingly unstoppable momentum on the first day of the Republican National Convention, where he become the party’s official nominee for president just a day after surviving an assassination attempt.
In her ruling, Federal Judge Aileen Cannon said that Special Counsel Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed and that the case should be therefore tossed.
Smith was appointed as special counsel in 2022 by Biden-appointee Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Smith was tasked with overseeing the investigations into Trump’s handling of classified documents after he left office, and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
The Trump-appointed judge made her ruling after lawyers for the 78-year-old argued for a partial stay of proceedings to allow for an assessment of a new Supreme Court ruling that a former president has broad immunity from prosecution for actions taken in their official role as president.
In a 93-page opinion, Cannon said Smith’s appointment and funding usurped the role of Congress, echoing a recent opinion put forward by Clarence Thomas, one of the conservatives who dominate the Supreme Court.
“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 authorising expenditures by law,” she concluded.
“The clerk is directed to close this case,” the judge wrote.