Trump documents case dismissed by federal judge

Washington — The federal judge overseeing the case alleging former President Donald Trump mishandled sensitive government documents after leaving the White House has dismissed the charges against him and his two codefendants. 

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon said in a 93-page order that she has granted Trump’s bid to dismiss the indictment based on the unlawful funding and appointment of special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the charges against the former president.

“The bottom line is this: The Appointments Clause is a critical constitutional restriction stemming from the separation of powers, and it gives to Congress a considered role in determining the propriety of vesting appointment power for inferior officers,” wrote Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by Trump. “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.”

The former president faced 40 charges stemming from his handling of documents marked classified after leaving office and allegedly obstructing the Justice Department’s investigation. The former president and his aides Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira were charged in an alleged scheme to impede the federal probe, and all three pleaded not guilty.

Smith’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CBS News has also reached out to attorneys for the former president and Nauta. 

An attorney for De Oliveira, the Mar-a-Lago property manager, said in a statement, “We certainly agree with the court’s decision. But this case has been absurd from the start and Carlos should never have been but in this situation by the government.” 

The decision can be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and then the U.S. Supreme Court. 

The dismissal of the case caps a stunning weekend for the former president, who was the target of an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Trump said a bullet grazed his ear while he was addressing the crowd of his supporters. The gunman, identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by Secret Service.

Trump is poised to formally accept the Republican presidential nomination at the party’s convention in Milwaukee, which kicks off Monday. 

In her order, Cannon said Smith’s appointment violates the Constitution’s Appointments Clause and his use of a “permanent indefinite appropriation” violates the Appropriations Clause. She wrote that she did not need to address the remedy for the funding violation, given her finding that the indictment should be dismissed on Appointments Clause grounds.

The judge wrote that if the political branches want to grant the attorney general power to appoint Smith to investigate and prosecute Trump, with the powers of a U.S. attorney, there is a valid means to do so: he can be appointed and confirmed through the means laid out in the Appointments Clause, or Congress can authorize his appointment through legislation consistent with the Constitution.

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in 2022 to oversee the two federal investigations into the former president. He said at the time, and Smith’s team of prosecutors have argued, that legal and historical precedent allowed for the appointment of an independent prosecutor to handle the probes. Attorneys general from administrations of both parties have appointed special counsels in recent years to oversee sensitive probes.

Smith also charged Trump with four counts stemming from his alleged attempts to subvert the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election. Cannon wrote in her ruling that the dismissal only applies to the classified documents case and has no bearing on any cases outside of her control. 

Cannon’s dismissal on the appointments clause violation comes after the Supreme Court ruled two weeks ago that Trump was entitled to immunity from federal prosecution for official acts taken while in office, a decision that stemmed from the 2020 election-related case. Justice Clarence Thomas authored a solo concurring opinion that called into question the constitutionality of Smith’s appointment.

Trump and his lawyers had highlighted Thomas’ opinion, which is not binding, in recent filings to Cannon and argued that it bolstered their bid to toss out the indictment based on Smith’s allegedly unlawful appointment.

The former president was indicted in South Florida last year, and the case proceeded slowly. A trial was set to begin in late May, but Cannon indefinitely postponed its start.