On Monday, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case against former President Donald Trump.
In her 93-page opinion, Judge Cannon ruled that Pres. Biden violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution by appointing a special counsel, Jack Smith, to prosecute Trump without first nominating Smith and gaining confirmation by Congress. As a result, Special Counsel Smith’s office was improperly funded by the Justice Department, Cannon ruled:
“The Superseding Indictment is dismissed because Special Counsel Smith’s appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.”
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”Upon careful study of the foundational challenges raised in the Motion, 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.”
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“In the end, it seems the Executive’s growing comfort in appointing ‘regulatory’ special counsels in the more recent era has followed an ad hoc pattern with little judicial scrutiny.”
Biden’s Justice Department plans to appeal the decision.
