About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 16, 2024)
4A Tuesday, July 16, 2024 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia I gainesvilletimes.com NATION Federal judge dismisses Trump classified documents case BY ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON — The federal judge presiding over the classified documents case against former Presi dent Donald Trump in Florida dismissed the pros ecution on Monday, siding with defense lawyers who said the special counsel who filed the charges was ille gally appointed by the Jus tice Department. The decision by U.S. District Judge Aileen Can non, which can be appealed and may later be overturned by a higher court, brings at least for now a stunning and abrupt conclusion to a criminal case that at the time it was filed was widely regarded as the most peril ous of all the legal threats the Republican former president confronted. Though the case had long been stalled, and the pros pect of a trial before the November election already was an unrealistic scenario, the judge's order is a mam moth legal victory for Trump as he recovers from a week end assassination attempt and prepares to accept the Republican nomination in Milwaukee this week. It's the latest stroke of good fortune in the four criminal cases Trump has faced. Though he was con victed in May in his New York hush money trial, the sentencing there has been postponed following a Supreme Court opinion that conferred broad immunity on former presidents. That opinion will result in signifi cant delays in a separate case brought by Smith charging Trump with plotting to over turn his 2020 presidential election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Another elec tion subversion case filed by prosecutors in Atlanta has been delayed by revelations of a romantic relationship between the district attorney and a special prosecutor. In a statement on his social NOW HIRING Off-Road Truck Drivers, Scraper Operators, and CDL Drivers/Heavy Equipment Operator Competitive pay, Great Benefits (401 k, Health Ins., Vacation) Apply in Person 1364 Candler Rd. Gainesville, Ga 30507 Monday - Friday 8am - 5pm 770-536-4731 Ext. 1 Special Counsel Smith to investigate and prosecute this action with the full pow ers of a United States Attor ney, there is a valid means by which to do so,” she added. That mechanism is through congressional approval, she said. The order is the latest example of the Trump- appointed judge handling the case in ways that have benefited the ex-president. Even before the charges were filed, she generated intense scrutiny during the FBI's investigation when she appointed an indepen dent arbiter to inspect the classified documents recov ered during the August 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago, a decision that was overturned months later by a unanimous federal appeals panel. Since then, she has been slow to issue rulings — favoring Trump's strategy of securing delays in all his criminal cases — and has entertained defense argu ments that experts said other judges would have dismissed without hearings. In May, she indefinitely canceled the trial date amid a series of unresolved legal issues. Gene J. Puskar Associated Press Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., July 13. The federal judge presiding over the classified documents case of former President Donald Trump in Florida has dismissed the prosecution because of concerns over the appointment of the prosecutor who brought the case. media platform, Trump said that the dismissal ‘‘should be just the first step” and that the three other cases, which he called ‘‘Witch Hunts,” should also be dismissed. The classified documents case had been seen as the most legally clear-cut of the four given the breadth of evi dence that prosecutors say they had accumulated and since the conduct at issue occurred after Trump left the White House in 2021. The indictment included dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified records from his presidency at his Mar-a- Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and obstructing FBI efforts to get them back. He had pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing. Defense lawyers filed multiple challenges to the case, including a legally technical one that asserted that special counsel Jack Smith had been illegally named to the position under the Constitution's Appoint ments Clause because he was appointed by Attor ney General Merrick Gar land, rather than being confirmed by Congress, and that his office was improp erly funded by the Justice Department. ‘‘The Special Counsel's position effectively usurps that important legislative authority, transferring it to a Head of Department, and in the process threatening the structural liberty inherent in the separation of powers,” Cannon wrote in a 93-page order granting a defense request to dismiss the case. ‘‘If the political branches wish to grant the Attorney General power to appoint a Apartments FOR RENT RPC Partners 2 Bedrin. 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