Federal Judge Dismisses Classified Documents Prosecution Against Trump
Judge finds special counsel was unlawfully appointed
By C. Ryan Barber and Sadie Gurman, WSJ
Updated July 15, 2024 10:22 am ET
A federal judge dismissed the classified documents prosecution against Donald Trump on Monday, siding with the former president’s argument that special counsel Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida said federal law didn’t authorize Smith to conduct the prosecution. No legal authority “gives the Attorney General broad inferior-officer appointing power or bestows upon him the right to appoint a federal officer with the kind of prosecutorial power wielded by Special Counsel Smith,” the judge wrote in the 93-page ruling.
The indictment had charged Trump with 40 felony counts alleging he willfully kept classified material after he left the White House and obstructed the government’s repeated efforts to get it back.
Neither the Trump campaign nor Smith’s office immediately responded to requests for comment.
—This article will be updated.
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