U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis celebrated the dismissal of a classified documents case against former President Donald Trump on Monday, saying they had always viewed the allegations as a politically motivated attack by the Justice Department.
Trump’s classified documents case was dismissed on all counts by Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday. Trump was accused of illegally holding on to a trove of sensitive national security documents at his Mar-A-Lago compound.
Wyoming Perspective
Lummis said the case was a partisan weaponization of the Department of Justice’s powers.
“While I have serious concerns with classified documents being handled improperly, other leaders including President Biden were not charged when they also had classified documents in their homes,” Lummis, a Republican, told Cowboy State Daily. “Elections need to be handled at the ballot box, not through the court system.”
Cannon ruled that the appointment of the special counsel in the case, Jack Smith, had violated the Constitution. Cannon found that because Smith was never named to the post of special counsel by the president or confirmed by the Senate, his appointment was in violation of the appointments clause of the Constitution.
“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,” Cannon wrote in her decision. “Regardless of the explanation, the present motion requires careful analysis of the statutory landscape to ensure compliance with the Constitution, and the court has endeavored to do so with care.”
Barrasso also described Monday’s decision in glowing terms.
“Today is a victory for President Trump and the rule of law,” Barrasso said. “Democrats’ continued weaponization of the justice system cannot continue.”
What It Means For Trump
Trump also celebrated the decision on his social media platform Truth Social, saying every other case against him should be dropped.
“The Democrat Justice Department coordinated ALL of these Political Attacks, which are an Election Interference conspiracy against Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME,” he wrote. “Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System, and Make America Great Again!”
The timing of the ruling is also significant because it aligns with the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisc., where Trump will be formally named the party’s nominee for president.
Cannon’s ruling came exactly two weeks after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas questioned in his concurrence the constitutionality of Smith’s appointment in the court’s landmark ruling granting Trump broad immunity against criminal prosecution.
It also rolls back nearly 30 years of precedence for the Justice Department to assign special prosecutors, dating back to the Whitewater investigation of former President Bill Clinton.
The Justice Department declined to comment on Cannon’s ruling. Smith and his team are expected to appeal it.
It’s a major blow for opponents of Trump as the case appeared to be the most straightforward of the four criminal cases he faced.
But Cannon’s delays in the case had already nearly guaranteed that there would be no trial held for it until after the November election.
If Trump wins the election, he could use his power over the Justice Department to drop the case entirely.
Hageman Reaction
Reached later in the day, Rep. Harriet Hageman said she wasn't surprised the case was dismissed and said the Constitution protects against rogue and unilateral appointments not approved by the executive or legislative branches.
What she was surprised about was Attorney General Merrick Garland's hiring of Smith for the case.
"AG Garland did the equivalent of simply hiring some random attorney who happened to be walking by at the time- to prosecute the former President of the United States of America, no less," Hageman said.
"In this instance, however, Garland was fully versed in Smith's history and record, and expected him top use his newfound position to destroy Mr. Trump."
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
