U.S. District Judge dismisses classified documents prosecution against former President Trump

U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida dismissed the classified documents prosecution against Donald Trump on Monday, siding with the former president’s lawyers who argued that Special Counsel Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed, according to widespread reports.

The argument has asserted that since Smith was not confirmed by the U.S. Senate, his appointment was not lawful and therefore he cannot prosecute the cases he has brought. Cannon said the appointment was unconditional and “unlawful.”

The former president was accused in the case of illegally retaining classified U.S. government documents after transitioning from power in the White House in January 2021 and withholding them from the FBI and other government officials who sought their return.

The ruling comes two days after Thomas Matthew Crooks, a would-be assassin narrowly missed killing Trump during a campaign rally in western Pennsylvania.

The former president still faces three other pending criminal cases.

One of those cases, a federal criminal case being reviewed in Washington, D.C. has charged Trump of crimes related to his alleged efforts to subvert the electoral college vote count and undo the 2020 election loss to President Biden.

Trump is also charged in a local Georgia case with racketeering related to his attempts to reverse the same 2020 electoral loss in that state. 

The former president is currently awaiting criminal sentencing in a Manhattan based New York state court after he was convicted this year of crimes connected to a 2016 hush money payment by his then-lawyer to adult entertainer Stormy Daniels.

—This is a developing story.