The lawfare campaign against Donald Trump was just dealt another blow.
The former president’s classified documents case in Florida was dismissed on Monday by the federal judge overseeing it. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon sided with the defense, which argued the special counsel who filed the charges was illegally appointed by the Department of Justice.
On Monday’s show, Megyn was joined by attorneys Mike Davis and Dave Aronberg to discuss the stunning ruling and what it means for the remaining cases against Trump.
The Dismissal
Cannon issued a 93-page ruling Monday morning in which she granted Trump’s motion to dismiss the indictment against him based on the “unlawful appointment and funding” of Special Counsel Jack Smith. “The Superseding Indictment is DISMISSED because Special Counsel Smith’s appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution,” she wrote.
The judge ruled that Congressional approval is required to appoint “constitutional officers” such as Smith. “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,” she wrote.
Additionally, Cannon said Congress must set spending for any prosecution. “The Special Counsel’s office has spent tens of millions of dollars since November 2022, all drawn unconstitutionally from the Indefinite Appropriation,” she added.
Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, also cited the July 1 opinion from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on the presidential immunity case, where he suggested Smith’s appointment could be unconstitutional.
The Justice Department can appeal Cannon’s decision. But, regardless of the next steps, there will be no movement on the case – which was widely considered to be the most serious of the four criminal prosecutions Trump faced – prior to Election Day. To that point, Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier that he was “thrilled” with the decision and praised Cannon’s “courage” and “wisdom.”
The Analysis
In Davis’ view, Cannon reached the correct conclusion based on the circumstances. “What needs to happen is: If President Biden wants to bring these charges or the attorney general wants to bring these charges against President Trump, they need to do it through a Senate-confirmed United States attorney,” he explained. “They could bring these charges if they want to refile them, but you can’t do it through the special counsel.”
Aronberg was less sure. “This position that Judge Cannon has taken is an outlier… I don’t know of any other judge who has ruled her way. Many other judges have found the opposite,” he noted. “In fact, President Trump thought this was such a reach of an argument that he did not raise it in the D.C. election interference case or… originally in the Mar-a-Lago case.”
As such, he sees this headed for appeal. “I think this case is definitely headed towards the Supreme Court – the 11th Circuit and then the Supreme Court,” Aronberg added. “It is an outlier.”
The End of Lawfare?
Both Davis and Aronberg did, however, agree with Megyn that this all but ends the lawfare campaign against Trump. “Yes, there was a conviction in New York, [but] he is not going to jail for that… Georgia is gone for now and probably will stay gone because it’s going up in appeal… and now January 6 has been gutted by the immunity decision and the January 6 Supreme Court decision, not to mention potentially this Aileen Cannon decision, which could be persuasive,” Megyn explained. “And the worst case of all for Trump, Florida, just went away.”
The net-net: “I think this is the day we can officially say he did it,” she concluded. “He pulled the inside straight.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Aronberg and Davis by tuning in to episode 838 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.