Aileen Cannon’s nuking of the Trump documents case continues her trend of embracing long-shot legal theories

Ruling comes after a year of court hearings examining presidential classification power and flimsy accusations of prosecutorial misconduct

After a year of court hearings examining far-fetched theories about presidential classification power, flimsy accusations of prosecutorial misconduct and heated debates about redacting court filings, Judge Aileen Cannon ended Jack Smith’s classified documents prosecution of former President Donald Trump on Monday for a more foundational – but nonetheless astonishing – reason. She said Smith was unconstitutionally appointed as special counsel and that the funding of his office also violated the law. Her dismissal of the case on that rationale is at odds with several other court rulings from judges across the country that have upheld the Justice Department’s use of special counsels to spearhead politically sensitive investigations. Cannon’s ruling is the climax of what was a frustrating run for the Smith team in front of the Trump-appointed trial judge in Fort Pierce, Florida. Her behavior in that case – as well as in a lawsuit brought by Trump to attack the documents investigation before he was charged – has been scrutinized by legal experts across the political spectrum. “It’s not just that this is an extreme argument about the Appointments Clause of the Constitution, it’s that it’s one that exactly one Supreme Court justice has endorsed and lots of precedent refutes,” said Steve Vladeck, a CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at Georgetown University of Law. However, Trump’s arguments got a boost earlier this month with a concurrence from Justice Clarence Thomas, in the Supreme Court case examining what immunity the former president has in Smith’s election subversion prosecution. That concurrence was cited repeatedly in Cannon’s 93-page opinion Monday. The prosecutors will have the opportunity to appeal the dismissal. And Cannon’s opinion left open the possibility that the charges could be revived if brought by the Justice Department in a way not reliant on the current special counsel infrastructure.