Judicial Review · Constitutional Law · Justice·July 15, 2024
Cannon dismissed the Trump classified documents case using an Appointments Clause argument no court had accepted before
Judge Aileen Cannon threw out a 40-count federal indictment against Donald Trump on July 15, 2024, ruling that Attorney General Merrick Garland lacked the constitutional authority to appoint Jack Smith as special counsel
Cannon dismissed a 40-count federal indictment on July 15, 2024, in a 93-page ruling
The charges included retaining 31 classified documents covering U.S. nuclear capabilities and military vulnerabilities at Mar-a-Lago
Cannon ruled AG Garland lacked authority under the to appoint Jack Smith without Senate confirmation
No court had previously struck down a special counsel appointment on Appointments Clause grounds
Cannon was nominated by Trump on May 21, 2020, and confirmed 56-21 on November 12, 2020 — five days after the 2020 election was called for Biden
Jack Smith dropped the appeal against Trump on November 25, 2024, after Trump won the election
DOJ policy bars prosecuting a sitting president; the 11th Circuit dismissed Trump from the case the same day Smith requested it
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Cannon permanently seals Jack Smith's Mar-a-Lago report, citing unlawful appointment
Watchdog groups appeal, the report stays secret unless higher courts act
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Jack Smith charges Trump with 37 felonies for keeping classified documents at Mar-a-Lago
Federal prosecutors charged former President Donald Trump on June 8, 2023, with 31 counts under the Espionage Act for willfully retaining national defense secrets and six additional counts for obstructing the government's retrieval effort
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Jack Smith's final report says Trump would have been convicted if he hadn't won
Special Counsel Jack Smith released Volume 1 of his final report on January 14, 2025, documenting the evidence against Trump for conspiring to overturn the 2020 election and concluding that the evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial had Trump not won re-election
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Judge Cannon appointed special master to slow Mar-a-Lago probe, then 11th Circuit reversed her
Judge Aileen Cannon appointed retired federal Judge Raymond Dearie as a special master in September 2022 to screen 11,000 documents the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago, halting the government's criminal investigation — until three 11th Circuit judges, two of them Trump appointees, unanimously reversed her in December 2022
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Jack Smith evidence sufficient to convict Trump but election blocked prosecution
Special Counsel Jack Smith released his 137-page final report on January 14, 2025, concluding his office had enough evidence to convict Trump at trial — but that Trump's re-election made prosecution constitutionally impossible under DOJ policy
Trump-appointed judge Aileen Cannon blocked the public from reading Smith's classified documents report
Judge Aileen Cannon — who dismissed Trump's classified documents case in July 2024 — barred the Justice Department from releasing Volume 2 of Jack Smith's final report, keeping secret the evidence about Trump's retention of national security documents at Mar-a-Lago
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