Trump's Trials - Trump's classified documents case has been dismissed by judge

Episode Date: July 15, 2024

For this episode of Trump's Trials, All Things Considered's Ailsa Chang speaks with NPR's Greg Allen and Carrie Johnson.Federal Judge Aileen Cannon has dismissed former President Donald Trump's classified documents case in Florida. The ruling argued that the initial appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional. Most legal observers saw the case as the one with the most clear-cut evidence against him.The ruling comes after months of delays from Cannon, a judge nominated by Trump, who has come under increasing scrutiny for how she has handled this case.Topics include:- how Judge Cannon explained her ruling- reaction from Trump and his team- where the other three criminal cases against Trump stand Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify for new episodes each Saturday.Sign up for sponsor-free episodes and support NPR's political journalism at plus.npr.org/trumpstrials.Email the show at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

From NPR, this is Trump's Trials, I'm Scott Detro. We won't go! This is a persecution. He actually just stormed out of the courtroom. Innocent to proven guilty in a court of law. On the first day of the Republican National Convention and two days after an assassination attempt against former President Trump, major news in one of the criminal cases he's facing. Federal Judge Eileen Cannon has thrown out the classified documents case in Florida,

completely dismissed it. Remember, this is the case centered on Trump's alleged possession of sensitive documents after he left the White House, and his repeated refusal to hand them all back to the federal government. Many legal observers saw the case as the one with the most clear-cut evidence against him. Cannon's 93-page ruling argues that the initial appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional. That's an argument that has been gaining ground in conservative legal circles in recent

years. It's a shocking ruling after months of delays from Cannon, a judge nominated by Trump who has come under increasing scrutiny for how she's handled the case. Back in June I talked to retired federal judge Shira Shendlin about Cannon's approach. The main thing that stood out to me is how she has constantly caused delay in the case instead of moving it forward. She's done that in her inability to rule in an efficient manner. The second thing that stands out to me is what appears to me to be her dislike of the government and her favoritism toward the defense.

The ruling will almost certainly be appealed, but it will take time to wind through the courts. And this year, the Supreme Court issued several rulings siding with Trump in these legal cases. And all that will likely be irrelevant if Trump wins the presidential election, as he said he will end the federal criminal cases he's facing. Coming up, my co-host Elsa Chang talks to NPR's Greg Allen and Kerry Johnson about what this dismissal means for Trump and for the RNC. Listen to the NPR Politics Podcast. New from the Embedded Podcast. Female athletes have always needed grit and talent. But for decades they've also needed a certificate. There was chit chat about, is that really a woman?

And even now, they're still being checked and questioned. Their story is the newest series from CBC and NPR's Embedded. It's called Tested. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. On this week's episode of Wild Card, poet Nikki Giovanni says you can choose your family. I recommend dogs. For their faithful, they're intelligent, and they always love you. I'm Rachel Martin.

Join us for NPR's Wild Card podcast, the game where cards control the conversation. We're back. Let's go to my co-host Elsa Chang's conversation with NPR's Miami correspondent Greg Allen. So this is pretty significant news. Tell us how did Judge Cannon explain her decision here? Well, Judge Cannon says Attorney General Merrick Garland erred when he appointed Jack Smith as special counsel because that violates the appointment clause, as it's called in the U.S. Constitution.

She says an officer with the authority and independence of the special counsel, as Jack Smith then, he should be appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate. Here's what she writes in her opinion, I'll read from it. Quote, because special counsel Smith's exercise of prosecutorial power has not been authorized by law, the court sees no way forward aside from dismissal of the superseding indictment. A cannon also accepts the argument made by Trump's lawyers that funding of the special counsel's office violates the appropriations clause because it should be authorized by Congress, but she says she doesn't need to rule on that because she's dismissing the case based on the violations in the appointment clause. The thing is, Greg, this ruling is surprising

because the special counsel's office has been challenged many times before, right? And it's always upheld by judges, including by the Supreme Court. So how does Cannon address all of that precedent? Well, I think some of this seems is almost lifted from a recent opinion by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. This was in the ruling on presidential immunity that came down just a few weeks ago. In that ruling, in an aside that was unrelated to the issues in the case, Thomas said that he had questions

about whether in appointing the special counsel, Attorney General Merrick Garland had violated the Appointments Clause. And so then in her order, Judge Cannon spent a lot of time looking at the Watergate-era ruling in which the US Supreme Court recognized the authority of the Attorney General to appoint a special counsel. That was in 1974 in Nixon versus the United States. That ruling has been cited by judges for decades in rejecting challenges to the

special counsel office. But Judge Cannon says in her analysis, because the validity of the special counsel's office wasn't being challenged in that case. The Supreme Court's ruling in 1974 shouldn't be considered binding precedent. All the other cases since then, she says, the courts have misread that ruling and they made an error. Interesting. Okay, then what is the next step for the special counsel in this case, Jack Smith? Well, as you said, an appeal is all but certain here. He can go to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta and ask them to take this case on an expedited basis.

We'll have to see what they do about that. And if they do take it on an expedited basis where they could rule before the election. Jack Smith could also go directly to the US Supreme Court if he wanted. The special counsel could ask the appeals court also to appoint a new judge depending on how they rule in the if in the appeal. Real quick Greg, former President Trump hailed Judge Cannon's ruling as the quote first step he wants the other three criminal cases against him dismissed. Where do those cases stand right now? Well he has sentencing in one

criminal case that's coming up in September that's the one with Stormy Daniels, the indictment in DC in the January 6th case and Georgia case for election interference now seem unlikely to go forward before the election. That's NPR's Greg Allen. Elsa also spoke with NPR national justice correspondent, Kerry Johnson. Okay, so this was a bit of a surprise this morning to see the whole Mar-a-Lago case against Trump thrown out. What reasons did the judge give? Judge Cannon says the special counsel in this case was appointed unconstitutionally and

that he lacked the power to bring this prosecution. The attorney general appointed Jack Smith back in 2022, but Judge Cannon says only Congress or the president should have that authority. Judge Cannon mentioned a recent writing by conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in a separate case against Trump. There, Justice Thomas basically invited Trump in the lower courts to take up this issue of the power of the special counsel, which kind of paved the way for this opinion today. Just so I understand, this means all the charges against Trump over his alleged hoarding of

classified documents, all of the charges just go away? The practical effect of the judge's ruling is to throw out the whole case, not just against Donald Trump, but also his co-defendants, his aides at the Mar-a-Lago Resort. The Justice Department has the power to appeal and there's good reason to think it will. Judge Cannon has been reversed by a conservative appeals court in this case in the past. And many other federal courts that have considered this issue under the Appointments Clause of the Constitution have all sided with the Justice Department.

Law professors are pointing out there's a long historical precedent where attorneys general name what they call inferior officers, such as the special counsel. Well, I imagine Trump and his team are beyond elated right now. What are they saying so far? Yeah, Donald Trump cheered the move and called for the dismissal of the other three criminal cases against him.

I reached out this afternoon to Jesse Pannuccio. He's a former Justice Department official in the Trump administration. Pannuccio says the judge wrote a serious opinion and she was right to question the special counsel's authority. Mr. Smith is a private citizen who has not been vetted by the United States Senate, not been appointed by the president, exercising the full power of United States attorney, which is vast, which is the power to prosecute and imprison people, in this case a former president. What do you think going down the road are the implications if other courts follow this

reasoning from Judge Kennan? There are big implications. It could mean that both federal cases against Donald Trump, the Florida case, and then one in Washington over January 6th are over. But it also has implications for the way the Justice Department has investigated sensitive allegations against political figures since the Nixon era. Lawyer Matthew Seligman told me what's at stake is every prosecution brought by a special counsel.

The Department of Justice as an institution has an overwhelming interest in defending the constitutionality and lawfulness of special counsels in general, not just because of the January 6th case, because there have been dozens of these special counsels and special prosecutors over the last decades. Think about Archibald Cox, who investigated Nixon, Robert Herr, who investigated Joe Biden. Exactly. Well, the thing is, Kerry, the Florida prosecution of Trump

has been considered, like, the strongest of the four cases against the former president. Was that thinking just, I don't know, like, off the mark? has been considered like the strongest of the four cases against the former president. Was that thinking just, I don't know, like off the mark? The bulk of the case in Florida relates to behavior by Donald Trump after he left the White House, allegedly taking secret documents to his Florida resort, storing them in bathrooms and ballrooms, and then refusing to hand over those papers when the Justice Department asked. Even after the FBI searched the property, former prosecutors told me that was as close to an

open and shut case as the DOJ might ever get. But now, at best, there's going to be a lot more delay. And if Donald Trump regains the White House, he could direct his attorney general to drop any appeal and bury this case for good. Wow. That is NPR's Carrie Johnson. Thank you so much, Carrie. My pleasure.

That's Trump's Trials from NPR. We will be back in your feeds later this week for a broader Wild Card, actor Ted Danson says it's possible to embrace your regrets. I wish I hadn't become a liar, you know, early in life, but even your wounds, you kind of have fondness for if you've lived through it and made amends and all of that stuff. I'm Rachel Martin. Join us for NPR's Wild Card Podcast, the game where cards control the conversation.

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