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You are here: Home / Trump Legacy / Judge Dismisses Classified Documents Case Against Trump

Judge Dismisses Classified Documents Case Against Trump

July 15, 2024 at 10:07 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A federal judge dismissed in its entirety the classified documents case against Donald Trump on Monday, ruling that the appointment of the special counsel, Jack Smith, had violated the Constitution,” the New York Times reports.

“In a stunning ruling, the judge, Aileen Cannon, found that because Mr. Smith had not been named to the post of special counsel by the president or confirmed by the Senate, his appointment was in violation of the appointments clause of the Constitution.”

“The ruling by Judge Cannon, who was put on the bench by Mr. Trump, flew in the face of previous court decisions reaching back to the Watergate era that upheld the legality of the ways in which independent prosecutors have been named. And in a single swoop, it removed a major legal threat against Mr. Trump on the first day of the Republican National Convention, where he is set to formally become the party’s nominee for president.”

This was widely seen as the clearest-cut of the four criminal cases against Trump.
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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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