The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday granted a request from special counsel Jack Smith to drop President-elect Trump’s Florida documents case, ending the battle to charge him over retaining records with classified markings after leaving office.
The order fulfills a request from Smith to end an appeal in the case as it relates to Trump, though the case will continue for his two co-defendants — valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira.
The move comes after Smith similarly moved to dismiss without prejudice Trump’s election interference case, in both cases noting Trump’s coming inauguration and a Department of Justice policy that bars the prosecution of sitting presidents.
In the classified documents case, Smith was fighting a ruling from Judge Aileen Cannon that tossed the case, determining that the special counsel was unlawfully appointed.
Legal observers saw the appeal as having a fair chance of success. Cannon’s decision counters 50 years of prior rulings regarding special counsel regulations, and the court has previously reversed one of her decisions.
Nonetheless, it brings to an end for Trump a serious case focused largely on his conduct after leaving the White House. It was potentially the stronger of Smith’s two cases after a Supreme Court ruling that determined former presidents retain broad immunity for their conduct while in office.
Prosecutors brought both Espionage Act and obstruction of justice charges against Trump after he repeatedly refused requests to return White House records, including defying a subpoena.
An unprecedented search of his estate at Mar-a-Lago returned more than 300 documents with classified markings, with photos showing boxes stored in a bathroom and even on a ballroom stage.
In some cases, the boxes had spilled open, their contents lying on the floor.
Among the tranche of documents were some marked with the most sensitive classification levels, including those from human sources and about U.S. nuclear capabilities.
A superseding indictment also laid bare Trump’s alleged efforts to hide evidence related to the case, including coordinating with his two co-defendants to try and delete video camera footage showing the boxes being shuffled around the property.
Updated at 5:41 p.m.
