Trump classified documents case dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon over special counsel appointment

• Federal Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the criminal classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, saying the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith as prosecutor for the case violated the U.S. Constitution.
• Trump was accused in the Florida case of illegally retaining classified government documents after leaving the White House in January 2021, and trying to withhold them from government officials who sought their return.
• The ruling comes days after a would-be assassin narrowly missed killing Trump during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, and hours before the start of the Republican National Convention.

A federal judge in Florida on Monday dismissed the criminal classified documents case against former President Donald Trump and two co-defendants, ruling that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith as prosecutor for the case violated the appointments clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Trump was accused in the case of illegally retaining hundreds of classified government documents at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida after leaving the White House in January 2021, and trying to withhold them from government officials who sought their return.

The bombshell ruling by Judge Aileen Cannon in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida — who was appointed to that position by Trump — ruling comes two days after a would-be assassin narrowly missed killing Trump during a campaign rally in western Pennsylvania.

Cannon's ruling, which also tossed criminal charges faced by Trump's valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago worker Carlos De Oliveira, was issued hours before the start of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. That convention will formally confirm Trump as the GOP presidential