A man wearing a Donald Trump mask in front of the Alto Lee Adams Old U.S. Courthouse in Florida on February 12.
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A man wearing a Donald Trump mask in front of the Alto Lee Adams Old U.S. Courthouse in Florida on February 12.
Joe Reddell/Getty Images
Donald Trump became the official Republican nominee for president at the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin on Monday.
Within the opening hours, we also learned who his running mate would be: Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.
Trump himself was receiving heartfelt encouragement from attendees and speakers in Milwaukee on Saturday after he suffered an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Milwaukee.
While a department of the Justice Department continues to investigate the motive of the man who fired the gun, a federal judge made another shocking announcement Monday morning: Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, Dismissed the entire federal case against the former president involving his handling of classified documents.
The documents include top-secret material that the former president retained after his term ended. He also allegedly withheld the information from federal investigators.
Cannon’s ruling gave Trump a major legal victory on his first day at the Republican National Committee.
think about this Host Ailsa Chang discusses the legal issues in the ruling and its implications with NPR justice reporter Carrie Johnson.
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Delegates on hand for day one of the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
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Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
The unexpected ending of the confidential documents case
Judge Cannon said the appointment of special prosecutor Jack Smith in the case was unconstitutional and that he had no authority to prosecute. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in 2022, but Judge Cannon said only Congress or the president has that authority. She also said the way the special prosecutor was funded was inappropriate.
Judge Cannon’s opinion cited recent writing by conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in a separate case against Trump. There, Justice Thomas essentially invited Trump and the lower courts to discuss the question of the special counsel’s powers — which in part paved the way for today’s opinion.
Jesse Panuccio is a former Justice Department official in the Trump administration. He said Cannon was right to write a serious opinion questioning the special counsel’s authority:
“Mr. Smith is a private citizen, without review by the United States Senate, without appointment by the President, exercising the full power of a U.S. Attorney, which is tremendous – the power to prosecute and imprison people, in this case the former President. .
Johnson said the practical effect of the judge’s ruling was to dismiss the entire case, not just against Trump but also against his co-defendants, his associates at Mar-a-Lago.
But the Justice Department has the right to appeal, and Johnson said there was good reason to think it would. Judge Cannon has been overturned by the conservative appeals court in this case.
Many other federal courts that have considered the issue have sided with the Justice Department under the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Trump welcomed the move and called for three other criminal cases against him to be dismissed. He falsely claimed that all of these prosecutions were a coordinated political attack and election interference by his opponent, President Joe Biden. The ministry said Biden was not involved.
A staffer displays a Trump sign on the floor during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
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Trump’s legal position
Johnson said if other courts followed Judge Cannon’s reasoning, it could mean the end of both federal cases against Trump — the Florida case and the Jan. 6 Washington case. But it also has implications for how the Justice Department has investigated sensitive allegations against politicians since the Nixon era. Attorney Matthew Seligman said the most important thing is every indictment brought by the special counsel:
“The Department of Justice as an agency has a profound interest in defending the constitutionality and legality of special prosecutors. Not just because of the January 6 case, but because of the dozens of special prosecutors over the past several decades. officers and special prosecutors.
The classified documents prosecution against Trump is considered the strongest of the four cases against the former president. Much of the Florida case relates to Trump’s behavior after leaving the White House, when he allegedly brought secret documents to his Florida resort, stored them in bathrooms and ballrooms accessible to any guests, and then used them in Trump’s Trump refused to hand over documents when he left the White House.
Former prosecutors said it was the closest the Justice Department could get to a public trial. Now, Johnson says there will be more delays at best:
“If Trump returns to the White House, he could instruct his attorney general to drop any appeals and bury the case forever.”
This episode was produced by Brianna Scott and Kay McNamee. It is edited by Patrick Jarenwattananon. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
