Trump Classified Documents Case Dismissed By Judge Cannon

3 months ago

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon formally dismissed the federal charges against former President Donald Trump for allegedly withholding White House documents on Monday, ruling Special Counsel Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed—the latest in a series of blows to criminal cases against the former president.

READ MORE: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2024/07/15/trump-classified-documents-case-dismissed-by-judge-cannon/

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Transcript

00:00U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon, on Monday, formally dismissed the federal charges against

00:05former President Donald Trump for allegedly withholding government documents, ruling special

00:10counsel Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed.

00:14This is the latest in a series of blows to criminal cases against the former president.

00:19Cannon sided with Trump's request to dismiss the charges against him under the Constitution's

00:23Appointment Clause, as the ex-president claimed Smith's appointment by U.S. Attorney General

00:28Merrick Garland violated the law.

00:31Judge Cannon, a Trump appointee, ruled someone with Smith's level of power should only have

00:36been appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

00:40She also ruled Smith's appointment violated the Constitution's Appropriations Clause because

00:44Congress had not appropriated funds to Smith's investigations, as required under federal

00:49law.

00:50Cannon's ruling came after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas made the same argument

00:55in his concurrence to the court's ruling granting Trump some immunity from criminal

00:59prosecution in his federal election case.

01:02Over the last few decades, numerous special counsel investigations have proceeded without

01:07issue under the current statute.

01:09That list includes the special counsel investigation into Hunter Biden.

01:12When Biden's lawyers made a similar argument in their motion to dismiss the case by arguing

01:17special counsel David Weiss was unlawfully appointed, the federal judge in that case,

01:21also a Trump appointee, rejected the motion.

01:25Trump was indicted on 40 federal felony charges for allegedly withholding national security

01:29information by bringing White House documents, including classified materials, back to Mar-a-Lago

01:35with him, and for allegedly obstructing the government's investigation into retrieving

01:39the documents.

01:41For more on this story, check out Alison Durkee's article in the link in the description.

Trump Classified Documents Case Dismissed By Judge Cannon

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