Donald Trump's classified documents case dismissed by judge

A US judge has dismissed the classified documents case against Donald Trump.

In a ruling on Monday, federal Judge Aileen Cannon granted the defence motion to dismiss the case on the basis the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith violated the Constitution.

It marks a major victory for the former president, making it the first time one of his four criminal cases have been thrown out of the courts.

The decision can be appealed and be overruled by a higher court.

Defence lawyers filed multiple challenges to the case, including a legally technical one that asserted that Smith had been illegally appointed under the Constitution's Appointments Clause, which governs the appointment of certain government positions, and that his office was improperly funded by the Justice Department.

Smith's team had vigorously contested the argument during hearings before Cannon last month and told Cannon that even if ruled in the defence team's favour, the proper correction would not be to dismiss the entire case.

The order is the latest example of Cannon, a Trump appointee, handling the case in ways that have benefited the ex-president.

She generated intense scrutiny during the FBI's investigation when she appointed an independent arbiter to inspect the classified documents recovered during the August 2022 search of Mar-a-Lago, a decision that was overturned months later by a unanimous federal appeals panel.

What was the classified documents case?

Prosecutors had alleged that Trump was hoarding confidential documents at his Mar-a-Lago home and had asked a member of staff to delete camera footage at his Florida estate in an effort to obstruct the federal investigation into his possession of the files.

Trump has previously denied any wrongdoing,

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