Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Judge Cannon Dismisses Case – Rules Special Counsel Appointment Violates “Appointments Clause”



Judge Aileen Cannon has dismissed the classified documents case against President Trump that was brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Using a similar argument recently included by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Judge Cannon has dismissed the case as an unconstitutional lawfare attack. The Lawfare community, writ large, is apoplectic.

In her ruling [SEE HERE] Judge Cannon ruled the appointment of Smith was not constitutional. “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,” Cannon wrote.

“At most, the history reflects an ad hoc, inconsistent practice of naming prosecutors from both inside and outside of government (typically in response to national scandal) who possessed wildly variant degrees of power and autonomy. The lack of consistency makes it near impossible to draw any meaningful conclusions about Congress’s approval of modern special counsels like Special Counsel Smith,” she wrote.

[SOURCE DOCUMENT]

The malevolent forces of the deep state have suffered a tremendous defeat, and the demons are shrieking.

The Washington Post, representing the interests of the U.S. Intelligence Community who fully supported the Lawfare attack, writes:

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department is highly likely to appeal the decision, and the issue may eventually reach the Supreme Court. By dismissing the entire indictment, Cannon’s decision also means that the charges are dropped for Trump’s two co-defendants, Waltine “Walt” Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira.

Even if Cannon’s ruling is eventually overruled, the decision to dismiss Trump’s indictment adds to a string of legal victories for him in recent weeks, including a sweeping Supreme Court ruling July 1 that gives former presidents broad immunity for their official acts while in office.

At the Justice Department, Attorney General Merrick Garland declined to comment on the ruling. A spokesman for Smith did not immediately comment.

On social media, Trump said Monday’s dismissal “should be just the first step” and that the rest of the criminal and civil cases against him also should be tossed out of court. He accused Democrats of conspiring against him to bring those cases, a claim that has been repeatedly denied by federal, state, and local officials. (read more)