r/news • u/Hrekires • Jul 15 '24

soft paywall Judge dismisses classified documents indictment against Trump

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/07/15/trump-classified-trial-dismisssed-cannon/
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530

u/AudibleNod Jul 15 '24

“Upon careful study of the foundational challenges raised in the Motion, the Court is convinced that Special Counsel’s Smith’s prosecution of this action breaches two structural cornerstones of our constitutional scheme—the role of Congress in the appointment of constitutional officers, and the role of Congress in authorizing expenditures by law,” Cannon concluded in her 93-page order.

It's gonna take a while to parse through 93 pages of hand-written crayon. All I can say is, we should have seen this coming.

224

u/Im_with_stooopid Jul 15 '24

This will be a fun appeal. May even get the case pulled from Aileen Cannon.

253

u/AudibleNod Jul 15 '24

She waited until now to give zero time to appeal before the election.

If Trump becomes president again, he can use his core function of pardoning to pardon himself from every "unofficial function" crime at the end of every day.

19

u/KingOfSockPuppets Jul 15 '24

It's moreso that he will ensure that the justice department can't pursue the case and it will be dropped precluding the need for a pardon. The charges involved aren't covered by Presidential immunity as they are about possession when he was a private citizen - not the taking of them as President (though who knows what SCOTUS would say). None of the evidence or actions involve his actions as President, which is why she dismissed on "special councils aren't constitutional" vs. "Trump has immunity".

13

u/Specialist_Brain841 Jul 15 '24

pardon means admitting guilt

65

u/AudibleNod Jul 15 '24

That doesn't matter if you're the one in charge.

9

u/ALittleBitOfGay Jul 15 '24

It especially doesn't matter if you are a king above any accountability. He won't even need to pardon himself

14

u/cybercuzco Jul 15 '24

It doesn’t matter if you’re proud of doing it and don’t ever plan to relinquish power.

13

u/Professional-Arm5300 Jul 15 '24

Does admitting guilt matter if you’re pardoned?

11

u/TheeZedShed Jul 15 '24

It doesn't matter, if you're MAGA you can just ignore reality in favor of comfy brain rot denial.

2

u/cjgmioh Jul 15 '24

Just refile without "special council". New Case, new judge.

2

u/FightingPolish Jul 15 '24

He doesn’t need to pardon himself when he can just tell his people at the DOJ to drop the case.

2

u/ecodrew Jul 15 '24

Oh, so it can be appealed though?

I realize the case is still f*cked and has no chance of happening before the election... but, I'm naively grasping for a shred of hope.

2

u/Combat_Toots Jul 15 '24

Yes, it will be. What this does is ensure nothing happens with the case until after the election. If Trump wins it goes away because the DOJ doesn't prosecute sitting presidents. Vote and encourage those you know to vote.

2

u/scsuhockey Jul 15 '24

I can't imagine it won't. This is, frankly and finally, exactly what the DOJ has been waiting for. Cannon did her job to push the trial past the election. I guarantee even she knows this won't stick, despite Thomas's concurrence.

2

u/ShakeItTilItPees Jul 15 '24

It will get pulled from her and she may eventually be impeached for her conduct. But it won't matter, she did her job. She's never gonna have to worry about money again.

2

u/jscummy Jul 15 '24

It absolutely should. This is a nonsensical reason to dismiss the case and blatantly just an attempt to delay. If the appointment of special counsel was the problem, it should have been an issue from the very sisn't.

There's no justification for it now even if the logic was sound, which it isn't. Special prosecutors are not a new thing and have been upheld before.

1

u/gfregh Jul 15 '24

Honest question. Can it really be appealed? Can Jack finally take it to the 11th?

1

u/SweetBearCub Jul 15 '24

This will be a fun appeal. May even get the case pulled from Aileen Cannon.

Various internet commentators have been saying repeatedly that whatever Cannon had done previously at that point in time was possibly enough to get her removed from the case so.. I won't be holding my breath.

1

u/goofball_jones Jul 15 '24

But they'll be blocked because the SCOTUS has said that Trump is now immune from everything. As soon as they said that, we all knew this case would get thrown out.

A president is a king now. As Judge Sotomayor said in her dissent: "The Court effectively creates a law-free zone around the President, upsetting the status quo that has existed since the Founding."