The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case granted his motion to dismiss the indictment Monday.
Judge Aileen Cannon agreed to dismiss the case based on Trump’s argument that special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment was unlawful. She wrote that his appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
“Both the Appointments and Appropriations challenges as framed in the Motion raise the following threshold question: is there a statute in the United States Code that authorizes the appointment of Special Counsel Smith to conduct this prosecution?” Cannon wrote. “After careful study of this seminal issue, the answer is no.”
“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 wrote in the ruling.