Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Doral, Florida.
AP/July 9, 2024
The federal judge overseeing the classified documents charges against former President Donald Trump has dismissed the indictment on the grounds that special counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed, according to a new court filing Monday.
U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon’s ruling is a remarkable win for Trump, whose lawyers have thrown long shot argument after long shot argument to dismiss the case. Other courts have rejected similar arguments to the one that he made in Florida about Smith’s unlawful appointment.
In this image from video provided by the U.S. Senate, Aileen M. Cannon speaks remotely during a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight nomination hearing in 2020 in Washington. Cannon has dismissed the indictment on the grounds that special counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed, according to a new court filing Monday.
AP/July 29, 2020
“Upon careful study of the foundational challenges raised in the Motion, the Court is convinced that Special Counsel 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 concluded in her 93-page order.