Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) called Florida Judge Eileen Cannon’s decision to dismiss felony charges against former President Trump for mishandling classified documents “stunned and misguided” and called for an “immediate appeal” of the decision.
“This stunningly erroneous ruling flies in the face of long-accepted practice and repeated judicial precedent,” Schumer said in a statement shortly after the ruling.
“This is contrary to the law and must be appealed immediately. This is further evidence that Judge Cannon cannot handle this case fairly and must be transferred,” he said.
Judge Cannon, a President Trump appointee, ruled that the appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith violated the Constitution and that the entire criminal case against President Trump should be dismissed.
She said after “careful consideration” she determined that there is no law that gives the attorney general the authority to appoint federal officials with “the kind of prosecutorial power that Special Counsel Smith will exercise.”
Trump faces 40 charges alleging he improperly handled classified documents and obstructed the government’s efforts to retrieve them after he left the White House.
The ruling came on the day the Republican National Convention began in Milwaukee.
Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, the Judiciary Committee’s most conservative Republican, hailed Cannon’s sentence as “good news.”
“Good news for America. Bad news for the legal wars and weaponization of the justice system,” Lee posted on social media site X.
