US Special Counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of former President Donald Trump over the alleged mishandling of classified documents has been thrown out, on grounds that his secondment to the case was not legal.
Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Trump for supposedly keeping classified documents at his Florida home after leaving the White House, as well as probing an alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election.
“None of the statutes cited as legal authority for the appointment 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,” Judge Aileen Cannon wrote.
The “strained statutory arguments, appeals to inconsistent history, or reliance on out-of-circuit authority” by Smith have not persuaded the court otherwise, Cannon added.
“This dismissal of the lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the witch hunts,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, responding to the ruling. “Let us come together to END all weaponization of our justice system, and Make America Great Again!”
The FBI raided Trump’s residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida in August 2022, confiscating several boxes of documents. According to the Washington Post, some of the materials related to US nuclear secrets, Iran’s missile program, and Washington’s intelligence activities in China.
A federal grand jury in Miami, Florida indicted Trump for mishandling the documents in September 2023. Trump pleaded not guilty and argued that he had done nothing wrong, since he was the ultimate declassification authority.
Court documents unsealed in May this year showed that the Department of Justice had authorized the use of “deadly force when necessary” during the raid.
President Joe Biden also faced an investigation over taking classified documents with him after leaving the White House in 2017. As Barack Obama’s vice president, he did not actually have the authority to possess the files. However, Special Counsel Robert Hur said in February that he would not prosecute the case, as a Washington jury would probably not convict Biden as he seemed like an “elderly man with a poor memory.”
Last month, the US Supreme Court affirmed that presidents had absolute immunity from prosecution for any official actions, that they were still liable for unofficial conduct, but that courts could not speculate about motivation when making that determination.
Smith’s other case against Trump in the Washington, DC federal court remains open for now.
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