Important Takeaways:

• The Florida judge overseeing Donald Trump’s classified documents trial dismissed the case against the former president Monday on the grounds that the appointment of and funding for special counsel Jack Smith was illegal.
• U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump nominee, said in her 93-page decision that Smith’s appointment was “unlawful” and unconditional. “The clerk is directed to close this case,” the judge wrote.
• Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith as special counsel in November 2022, tasking him with overseeing the federal investigations into Trump’s handling and retention of classified documents after he left office as well as his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
• Trump’s lawyers argued in court papers filed in February that the appointments clause of the Constitution “does not permit the Attorney General to appoint, without Senate confirmation, a private citizen and like-minded political ally to wield the prosecutorial power of the United States. As such, Jack Smith lacks the authority to prosecute this action.”

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