"JUDGE" CANNON DISMISSES MAR A LAGO CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS CASE

We knew this was coming.

Donald Trump’s criminal case on charges that he illegally retained classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago club was dismissed on Monday by the presiding judge, ruling that the special counsel who brought the case was unlawfully appointed and funded under the US constitution.

“The Special Counsel’s position effectively usurps that important legislative authority, transferring it to a Head of Department, and in the process threatening the structural liberty inherent in the separation of powers,” Cannon wrote. “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.”

Trump responded to the decision with a post on Truth Social. “As we move forward in Uniting our Nation after the horrific events on Saturday, this dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts,” he wrote, going on to rail against President Joe Biden.

The decision by the US district judge Aileen Cannon will almost certainly be challenged by special counsel prosecutors at the US court of appeals for the 11th circuit. Prosecutors could also seek to have the case reassigned to a different judge if the ruling is overturned.

A spokesman for the Smith team did not immediately return a request seeking comment, and the Trump team did not immediately have a comment.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon brings at least for now a stunning and abrupt conclusion to a criminal case that at the time it was filed was widely regarded as the most perilous of all the legal threats the Republican former president confronted.

Judge Cannon's decision

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