A Florida judge has dismissed the US justice department’s classified documents case against Donald Trump in a huge victory for the former president just days after a gunman attempted to assassinate him.
Judge Aileen Cannon granted Trump’s motion to dismiss the federal case on the basis that the justice department’s appointment of special prosecutor Jack Smith violates the Appointments Clause of the US Constitution.
Trump pleaded not guilty to several charges in the case over his handling of classified documents, including willful retention of national defence information.
Dozens of classified files were found in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, including in a shower and storage room, after Trump left the White House in 2021.
“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,” Judge Cannon concluded in her 93-page order.
The former president faced 40 felony counts over his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Judge Cannon said in her ruling that this decisions applies to this case and not a second one overseen by Mr Smith over alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The former president’s lawyers did not make a similar request to dismiss that case.
The Trump-appointed Florida judge had recently indefinitely postponed the federal classified documents trial, saying there were significant questions over trial evidence.
Judge Cannon has previously faced scrutiny over a number of controversial rulings related to Trump’s classified documents case.
Her decision comes as Republicans gather in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the Republican National Convention, where Trump will be officially named the party’s nominee for president later this week.
In addition to this case, Trump had been facing three other criminal prosecutions. In May, he was found guilty of falsifying business records in one of those cases.
Mr Smith will be able to appeal Monday’s ruling and ask for a new judge to be assigned to the case.
He has yet to publicly comment on Judge Cannon’s ruling.
On Monday, Trump said on his social media site that the dismissal of the case “should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts”.
“Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System, and Make America Great Again!”