MIAMI: A Florida judge appointed by Donald Trump has dismissed the criminal case against the former president on charges of mishandling top secret documents, saying the way that Special Counsel Jack Smith was appointed was improper.
Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling marks a major victory for Trump, who faced accusations of endangering national security by retaining classified materials after leaving the White House.
The decision to dismiss the case came after Trump’s legal team argued that the appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith was improper, citing violations of the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution. The judge agreed, stating in her order, “Former President Trump’s Motion to Dismiss Indictment Based on the Unlawful Appointment and Funding of Special Counsel Jack Smith is GRANTED. The Superseding Indictment is DISMISSED.”
Trump, 78, was facing 31 counts related to the “willful retention of national defence information,” with each count carrying a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Additional charges included conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements. Allegations against Trump detailed that he had kept classified documents, including records from the Pentagon and CIA, at his Mar-a-Lago residence without proper security measures and had impeded efforts to retrieve them.
The dismissal of the case represents a legal victory for Trump as he prepares to be formally nominated as the Republican Party’s candidate at the upcoming Republican National Convention. This development follows closely on the heels of an assassination attempt on Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Arriving in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention, Trump welcomed the ruling and said that all court cases against him should be dismissed. The former US President is set to be nominated as his party’s champion at the Convention, after surviving an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
