Florida judge dismisses indictment against Trump in classified documents case

Florida Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday dismissed former President Donald Trump's indictment on the classified documents, arguing that the appointment and funding of special counsel Jack Smith is illegal and goes against the Constitution's Appointments Clause.

Smith's team vehemently rejected the arguments in hearings before the U.S. District Judge last month. "In the end, it seems the Executive's growing comfort in appointing 'regulatory' special counsels in the more recent era has followed an ad hoc pattern with little judicial scrutiny," reads a passage of Cannon's ruling.

"The Framers gave Congress a pivotal role in the appointment of principal and inferior officers. That role cannot be usurped by the Executive Branch or diffused elsewhere — whether in this case or in another case, whether in times of heightened national need or not," reads a passage of the ruling cited by The Associated Press.

The decision concerning what is seen as the most difficult legal threat for Trump, comes on the first day of the Republican National Convention and two days after the attempted assassination against the former president in Pennsylvania. The decision can be appealed.

Trump faced dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents at his property in Mar-a-Lago in Florida, as well as obstructing the FBI's efforts to get them back.

The ruling had been indefinitely postponed in May because of the number of pre-trial motions before the court, according to Cannon, a Trump appointee.

Trump had pleaded not guilty to the federal charges last June. He was formally accused of unlawfully retaining national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements.