AILSA CHANG, HOST:
In Florida, a federal judge has dismissed all the charges against former President Trump for allegedly withholding and concealing classified and top secret documents. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, says the entire case should be thrown out because the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional. Smith's spokesperson says he will appeal, but for now at least, the ruling eliminates some 38 criminal counts Trump was facing as he heads into the Republican National Convention. NPR's Greg Allen has been following this case and joins us now from Miami. Hi, Greg.
GREG ALLEN, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: Hi. OK, so this is pretty significant news. Tell us - how did Judge Cannon explain her decision here?
ALLEN: Well, Judge Cannon says Attorney General Merrick Garland erred when he appointed Jack Smith as special counsel because that violates the appointment clause, as it's called in the U.S. Constitution. She says an officer with the authority and independence of the special counsel, as Jack Smith, then he should be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Here's what she writes in her opinion. I'll read from it. Quote, "because special counsel Smith's exercise of prosecutorial power has not been authorized by law, the court sees no way forward, aside from dismissal of the superseding indictment."
Cannon also accepts the argument made by Trump's lawyers that funding of the special counsel's office violates the appropriations clause 'cause it should be authorized by Congress. But she says she doesn't need to rule on that 'cause she's dismissing the case based on the violations in the appointment clause.
CHANG: The thing is, Greg, this ruling is surprising because the special counsel's office has been challenged many times before, right? And it's always upheld by judges, including by the Supreme Court. So how does Cannon address all of that precedent?
ALLEN: Well, I think some of this is almost lifted from a recent opinion by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. This was in the ruling on presidential immunity that came down just a few weeks ago. In that ruling, in an aside that was unrelated to the issues in the case, Thomas said that he had questions about whether in appointing the special counsel, Attorney General Merrick Garland had violated the appointments clause.
And so then in her order, Judge Cannon spent a lot of time looking at the Watergate-era ruling in which the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the authority of the attorney general to appoint a special counsel. That was in 1974 in Nixon v. the United States.
CHANG: Right.
ALLEN: That ruling has been cited by judges for decades in rejecting challenges to the special counsel office. But Judge Cannon says in her analysis, because the validity of special counsel's office wasn't being challenged in that case, the Supreme Court's ruling in 1974 shouldn't be considered binding precedent. All the other cases since then, she says, the courts have misread that ruling, and they made an error.
CHANG: Interesting. OK, then what is the next step for the special counsel in this case, Jack Smith?
ALLEN: Well, as you've said, he's indicated he'll appeal Judge Cannon's dismissal. He can ask the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to take it on an expedited basis. It's not clear, though, whether they'll do that or whether they will have a ruling before the election if they do take it. Jack Smith could also appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. And the special counsel could ask the Appeals Court to appoint a new judge, depending on the ruling.
CHANG: Real quick, Greg - former President Trump hailed Judge Cannon's ruling as the, quote, "first step." He wants the other three criminal cases against him dismissed. Where do those cases stand right now?
ALLEN: Well, he has a sentencing in one criminal case that's coming up in September. That's the one with Stormy Daniels. The indictment in D.C. in the January 6 case and Georgia case for alleged election interference now seem unlikely to go forward before the election.
CHANG: That is NPR's Greg Allen in Miami. Thank you, Greg.
ALLEN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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