In a ruling on Monday, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case against the former President Donald Trump. 

Cannon argued that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.

“In the end, it seems the Executive’s growing comfort in appointing ‘regulatory’ special counsels in the more recent era has followed an ad hoc pattern with little judicial scrutiny,” Cannon wrote.

With this ruling, Cannon, who was appointed by Trump in 2020, eliminated a major legal obstacle to the Trump campaign on the first day of the Republican National Convention, where the former president is set to formally become the party’s presidential nominee.

Smith’s team will likely appeal the ruling.