Trump’s Florida case stunningly dismissed after judge finds appointment of special counsel Jack Smith violated the Constitution

Former President Donald Trump’s confidential documents case was tossed out by a federal judge in a stunning move in Florida on Monday — eliminating one of his biggest legal liabilities just 113 days before the Nov. 5 election.

Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case against Trump — a move considered especially significant because the charges were widely viewed as the most likely to score a conviction in any of the four cases against him — on the grounds that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith to the prosecution violated the Constitution.

“I am thrilled that a judge had the courage and wisdom to do this,” Trump told Fox News in an interview moments after the ruling. “This has big, big implications, not just for this case but for other cases.

“The special counsel worked with everybody to try to take me down. This is a big, big deal. It only makes the convention more positive — this will be an amazing week.”

The GOP presidential candidate, 78, faced up to 450 years in prison if convicted on all counts in the case.

Cannon seemed to indicate that the Department of Justice is free to appeal her ruling by saying she was leaving her decision up “for any applicable future review.” It was not immediately clear whether Smith and his team will do so.

The ruling also may affect the second federal case against Trump involving the Jan. 6 riots and his challenging of the results of the 2020 election. Trump’s lawyers could seek to have the DC case tossed while pointing to Cannon’s decision.

“The Florida documents case was considered the strongest legal case against Trump because it did not involve novel theories of law,” said Cornell University Law Professor William Jacobson to The Post. “For the Florida case to be dismissed is a grave blow to the government.”

The ex-president was accused of hoarding troves of confidential documents at his Mar-a-Lago home after he left office and then attempting to cover it up.

Cannon ruled that Congress was required to appoint “constitutional officers” and the legislature was also needed to approve spending for such a prosecution.

“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,” Cannon wrote.

The judge wrote that “Special Counsel Smith’s investigation has unlawfully drawn funds from the Indefinite Appropriation.”

“The Special Counsel’s office has spent tens of millions of dollars since November 2022, all drawn unconstitutionally from the Indefinite Appropriation,” Cannon wrote.

“For more than 18 months, Special Counsel Smith’s investigation and prosecution has been financed by substantial funds drawn from the Treasury without statutory authorization, and to try to rewrite history at this point seems near impossible. The Court has difficulty seeing how a remedy short of dismissal would cure this substantial separation-of-powers violation, but the answers are not entirely self-evident, and the caselaw is not well developed.”

The Trump-appointed federal judge cited Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ July 1 dissent in a ruling on presidential immunity, which suggested the special counsel appointment could be unconstitutional, in her decision.

Trump and his valet Walt Nauta were indicted in the classified records case in June 2023 following a dramatic FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago resort in August 2022.

In the DC case, Trump has already derided the jurist overseeing it, federal Judge Tanya Chutkan, claiming she is biased against him.

Trump also faces state election charges in Georgia on election-related counts, though it is unclear when or if that case will go to trial due to defense challenges to the role of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, an elected Democrat who previously hired her romantic partner Nathan Wade as lead prosecutor.

The ex-president was convicted in the final case against him on May 30 on 34 New York state charges for falsifying business records to conceal 2016 “hush money” payments. Trump has not yet been sentenced in that case and is vowing to appeal.

Hours before Cannon’s ruling, Trump told The Post’s Michael Goodwin that “we hear” that President Biden and the Justice Department — rather than the judge — would be dropping the case and additional federal charges related to the 2020 election after the failed assassination attempt against him Saturday.

Politicians on both sides of the aisles sounded off about Monday’s surprise decision, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) blasting it as “misguided” and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) lauding it as the “right result.”

“This breathtakingly misguided ruling flies in the face of long-accepted practice and repetitive judicial precedence. It is wrong on the law and must be appealed immediately,” Schumer said. “This is further evidence that Judge Cannon cannot handle this case impartially and must be reassigned.”

Johnson said, “This is good news for America and for the rule of law.

“House Republicans repeatedly argued that Special Counsel Jack Smith abused his office’s authority in pursuit of President Trump, and now a federal judge has ruled Smith never possessed the authority in the first place,” the speaker said.

“As we work to unify this country following the failed assassination attempt of President Trump, we must also work to end the lawfare and political witch hunts that have unfairly targeted President Trump and destroyed the American people’s faith in our system of justice,” Johnson said. “This development is a critically important step towards that goal.”

House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said in a statement, “Only Congress can create new officers and spend taxpayer money.

“I applaud Judge Aileen Cannon for having the courage and wisdom to dismiss corrupt Jack Smith’s unconstitutional witch hunt against President Trump.

“This dismissal is not just a win for President Trump but a triumph for the principles our nation was founded upon. Our country must come together and unite to end the weaponization of our justice system and restore equal justice under the law.”

Neither the Department of Justice nor lawyers for Trump returned Post requests for comment Monday.

With Post wires