'Special Report' anchor Bret Baier provides details on the former president's reaction to Judge Aileen Cannon's decision to dismiss his classified documents case in Florida.
It never made sense or seemed right. With the wave of a wand, a private citizen was granted unlimited power to prosecute a former president of the United States.
In a tectonic opinion issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional. As a consequence, she correctly dismissed the Florida criminal indictment of Donald Trump over his handling of classified documents.
Smith and the Department of Justice (DOJ) will likely file an immediate appeal to a higher court. But Cannon’s well-reasoned 93-page opinion establishes a clarifying record of sound legal judgment that will be difficult to overcome. At some point, the U.S. Supreme Court may be forced to intervene.
JUDGE DISMISSES TRUMP'S FLORIDA CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS CASE
At the heart of the federal judge’s decision is the Appointments Clause of the Constitution which provides the exclusive means for selecting all "Officers of the United States." They must be appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate. Smith failed both requirements.
Instead, he was anointed special counsel by Attorney General Merrick Garland on November 18, 2022, without legitimate statutory authority. His unilateral act commandeered the legislative right of Congress that animates and preserves our revered separation of powers.
Cannon concluded, "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." (Opinion, page 91)........