A WELCOME piece of news arrived for Donald Trump on July 15th, the first day of the Republican National Convention. The criminal case against him for allegedly removing classified documents from the White House—and piling them in (among other places) a ballroom and bathroom at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida home—was thrown out by the presiding judge. While higher courts will likely look askance at the ruling, this setback for prosecutors means Mr Trump’s tactics have pushed his trial past the November election—if it ever begins at all.

Judge Aileen Cannon, appointed by Mr Trump in 2020, has been stretching out the calendar in the first of two lawsuits styled United States v Trump since she was randomly assigned to the case in June 2023. This week’s ruling contends that the prosecution was illicit from the start. Jack Smith, the special counsel, was handed his position in violation of the constitution’s “appointments clause”—the provision in Article II that requires “officers of the United States” to be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.