There was stunning news out of Florida Monday morning as U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon granted one of former President Donald Trump’s motions to dismiss the classified documents case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith against him. Cannon granted the motion based on the Appointments Clause — an issue argued before her during a series of hearings in late June.
BREAKING: Judge Dismisses Trump Classified Documents Case
Cannon, who has butted heads with the prosecution before, laid out the case that his appointment and use of authority exceeded Constitutional authority.
“The bottom line is this,” she wrote. “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. The Special Counsel’s position effectively usurps that important legislative authority, transferring it to a Head of Department, in the process threatening the structural liberty inherent in the separation of powers. If the political branches wish to grant the Attorney General power to appoint Special Counsel Smith to investigate and prosecute this action with the full powers of a United States Attorney, there is a valid means by which to do so. He can be appointed and confirmed through the default method prescribed in the Appointments Clause, as Congress has directed for United States Attorneys throughout American history, see 28 U.S.C. § 541, or Congress can authorize his appointment through enactment of positive statutory law consistent with the Appointments Clause.”
Following the dismissal, some noted that while Smith and his team might understandably be unhappy with the dismissal, it could, in a sense, be a blessing in disguise for them, as Cannon’s order would immediately be appealable.
And appeal is what the prosecution is opting to do.
The Justice Department has authorized Special counsel Jack Smith to appeal U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s Monday ruling dismissing the classified records case against former President Trump, Fox News Digital has learned.
“The dismissal of the case deviates from the uniform conclusion of all previous courts to have considered the issue that the Attorney General is statutorily authorized to appoint a Special Counsel. The Justice Department has authorized the Special Counsel to appeal the court’s order,” Peter Carr, spokesperson for Smith’s office, told Fox News Digital.
Will the 11th Circuit overturn Cannon’s ruling? Will the Supreme Court? Or did Clarence Thomas subtly speak for a majority of the justices in his concurrence in the immunity decision when he raised the Appointments Clause issue? It’s hard to say at present.
Justice Thomas Uses Presidential Immunity Case to Question
the Legality of the Whole Trump Prosecution
What’s clear is that if there was any doubt about whether or not the Florida case might make it to trial before November 5th, now there is none. And there’s one other thing to ponder here: While the decision clearly wasn’t in the Government’s favor, it may, in reality, serve as a bit of a reprieve for Smith and his team.
Keep in mind: One of the rulings Cannon issued following those late June hearings with regard to Trump’s motion to suppress evidence obtained in the infamous Mar-a-Lago raid set up a scenario where agents involved in the raid — and possibly their higher-ups at DOJ — were going to be forced to testify under oath on a number of items related to it. That’s moot now — unless or until Cannon is overruled.
