The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday approved a request from special counsel Jack Smith to dismiss President-elect Trump’s Florida documents case, concluding the legal effort to charge him for retaining records with classified markings after leaving office.
The decision satisfies Smith’s request to end an appeal in the case as it pertains to Trump, although the case remains ongoing for his two co-defendants — valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira.
The dismissal follows Smith’s similar move to drop Trump’s election interference case without prejudice, citing Trump’s upcoming inauguration and a Department of Justice policy that prohibits prosecuting sitting presidents.
In the classified documents case, Smith had been appealing a ruling from Judge Aileen Cannon that dismissed the case, arguing the special counsel’s appointment was unlawful.
Legal experts viewed the appeal as having a reasonable chance of success. Cannon’s ruling contradicted 50 years of precedent concerning special counsel regulations, and the court had previously overturned one of her earlier decisions.
Nevertheless, this dismissal concludes a significant case for Trump, which focused heavily on his actions after leaving office. It was considered the stronger of Smith’s two cases following a Supreme Court ruling granting former presidents broad immunity for their official conduct while in office.
Prosecutors had charged Trump under the Espionage Act and with obstruction of justice after he repeatedly declined to return White House records, including defying a subpoena.
An unprecedented search of his Mar-a-Lago estate recovered over 300 documents with classified markings, with images revealing boxes stored in a bathroom and even on a ballroom stage.