US judge dismisses Trump classified documents case

A Florida judge appointed by Donald Trump has dismissed the criminal case against him on charges of mishandling top secret documents, in a stunning victory for the former president who immediately called for an end to his other pending cases.

The staggering decision effectively removes a major legal threat for Trump, who faces multiple criminal cases as he tries to regain the White House from US President Joe Biden.

It will add to his seemingly unstoppable momentum on the first day of the Republican National Convention, where he is set to become the party's official nominee for president just days after surviving an assassination attempt.

In her ruling, Federal Judge Aileen Cannon said that Special Counsel Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed and that the case should be therefore tossed.

Smith was appointed as special counsel in 2022 by Biden-appointee Attorney General Merrick Garland.

He was tasked with overseeing the investigations into Trump's handling of classified documents after he left office, as well as his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

The Trump-appointed judge made her ruling after lawyers for the 78-year-old argued for a partial stay of proceedings to allow for an assessment of a new Supreme Court ruling that a former president has broad immunity from prosecution.

"Former President Trump's Motion to Dismiss Indictment Based on the Unlawful Appointment and Funding of Special Counsel Jack Smith is granted," Cannon wrote in her order.

In a 93-page opinion, Cannon said Smith's appointment and funding usurped the role of Congress, echoing a recent opinion put forward by Clarence Thomas, one of the conservatives who dominate the Supreme Court.

"The Court is convinced that Special Counsel's Smith's prosecution of this action breaches two structural cornerstones of our constitutional scheme -- the role of Congress in the appointment of constitutional officers, and the role of Congress in authorizing expenditures by law," she concluded.

"The clerk is directed to close this case," the judge wrote.

Cannon did not make a ruling on the merits of the case.

But the fact she came to a decision after being accused by critics of slow-walking the case, opens the door for prosecutors to appeal and potentially have it re-heard by another judge.

The decision followed Trump's momentous win earlier this month at the Supreme Court that gives former presidents broad immunity for their official acts while in office.

This decision has helped Trump in his quest to delay the trials he faces until after the November election.

These include charges in Washington and Georgia related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

"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 on his Truth Social platform.

In the Florida case Trump was facing 31 counts of "willful retention of national defense information," each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

He also faced charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements.

Trump allegedly kept classified documents -- which included records from the Pentagon and CIA -- unsecured at his Mar-a-Lago home and thwarted efforts to retrieve them.

The material included secret nuclear and defense documents, according to prosecutors.

Republicans contended the prosecution was unfair and selective, after a federal prosecutor in February opted not to pursue charges against Biden, who kept some classified material at his home after leaving the vice presidency in 2017.

Agence France-Presse