A federal judge’s shocking decision on Monday to dismiss former President Donald Trump’s classified documents lawsuit divided US lawmakers and prosecutors, with Republicans celebrating a “victory” and Democrats lamenting a “misguided ruling.”
U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon ruled that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional, ending one of the former president’s biggest legal battles before Election Day.
The decision came just days after the 78-year-old Trump was nearly shot dead by an assassin during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the bullet penetrated his right ear but miraculously escaped death by just an inch.
“This is good news for America and the rule of law,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said in a statement.
“House Republicans have repeatedly argued that Special Counsel Jack Smith abused his powers in going after President Trump, but a federal judge has ruled that Smith never had the authority to do so in the first place,” Johnson continued.
“In the wake of the assassination attempt on President Trump, as we work to unify our country, we must also work to end the legal war and political witch hunt that has unfairly targeted President Trump and destroyed the American people’s faith in our justice system,” he added. “Today’s progress is a crucial step toward that goal.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) opposed the verdict in a statement after the ruling and called for Cannon’s “reassignment.”
“This stunningly erroneous ruling flies in the face of long-accepted practice and repeated judicial precedent. It is contrary to law and must be appealed immediately,” Schumer said.
“This is further evidence that Judge Cannon cannot handle this case fairly and must be transferred,” he added.
In his ruling, Cannon, an appointee of Trump, cited a dissent from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ July 1 decision on presidential immunity that found the appointment of a special counsel may be unconstitutional.
Jim Trusty, who left Trump’s legal team shortly after Smith unsealed the indictment last year, told The Washington Post in an exclusive phone interview that the real “hero” in the case, however, is Ed Meese, who served as the 75th attorney general under President Ronald Reagan.
Late last year, Smith, 92, and other lawyers filed an amicus brief in federal court arguing that Smith’s position as special counsel violates the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.
“Uncovered by the authority of the federal government, Smith is a modern-day version of the emperor with no clothes,” the lawyers wrote in a December 2023 brief.
“As an improper appointee, he has no more authority to represent the United States before this Supreme Court than Bryce Harper, Taylor Swift or Jeff Bezos,” they wrote.
“When the Independent Counsel Act was repealed, Congress failed to enact a special counsel statute consistent with the Appointments Clause,” Trusty said, noting that Attorney General Merrick Garland’s attempts to distance himself from the classified documents case “backfired.”
“One of the reasons [Smith] “The reason Garland appeared to have so much power was because the attorney general was hiding behind him,” Trusty added. Garland has spoken publicly about his independence on several occasions. “And that’s ricocheting back at him, and Judge Cannon is saying that, for all intents and purposes, Jack Smith was in charge.”
“This opinion might have come across differently if Mr. Garland had stood up and said I was responsible,” he added.
That oversight, combined with the mounting costs of prosecuting Smith, which has cost the Justice Department at least $24 million so far, made the prosecution a “colossal waste,” according to the trustees.
Trump’s former lawyer predicted Smith would appeal the ruling, but also predicted it would raise further questions about the appointments of previous special counsels, including John Durham and Robert Mueller.
“No matter what happens, this case will not be heard before November,” Trusty concluded, even if it is appealed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
Representatives for Smith and Trump’s legal team did not respond to requests for comment.
As the sentence was handed down, Republican freshman Rep. Byron Donald of Florida was reportedly on the phone with President Trump.
“He was obviously excited,” Donald said. He told Politico“He said, ‘Judge Cannon obviously made a great decision. I’m really pleased with the decision and I’m hopeful it will resolve a lot of issues.'”
President Biden, in an interview following the August 2022 raid that seized classified documents at former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, slammed Trump, questioning how he could be so irresponsible.
Special Counsel Robert Hur then launched a separate special investigation into Biden’s own secret documents.
The investigation concluded in February, with Hoare concluding that Biden “knowingly” retained classified documents, but opting not to indict the president because a jury would likely view Biden as “a well-intentioned but elderly man with a poor memory.”
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
