Takeaways from the dismissal of the mishandling classified documents case against Donald Trump
CNN
A federal judge’s decision to dismiss Donald Trump’s classified documents case on Monday was a surprising end to what was once seen as one of the strongest criminal cases brought against the former president last year.
A federal judge’s decision to dismiss Donald Trump’s classified documents case on Monday was a surprising end to what was once seen as one of the strongest criminal cases brought against the former president last year. District Judge Aileen Cannon said in a 93-page ruling that the case should be tossed out based on her finding that special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the charges, was unlawfully appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland. Her rationale came purely on technical legal grounds and was not based on specifics of Trump’s alleged actions or the strength or weakness of the charges. In fact, she only mentioned the details about Mar-a-Lago and classified documents in one cursory paragraph within the 93-page ruling. There may be a path for Smith to revive the case, Cannon noted in her ruling, and Smith can appeal the decision. But the shock decision by Cannon, a Trump appointee whose handling of the case has drawn widespread scrutiny, still handed an enormous legal and political win to the former president on the same day that the Republican National Convention kicked off in Milwaukee. Trump, soon to be confirmed as the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nominee, quickly celebrated Cannon’s ruling Monday and, without evidence, again claimed that the now-dismissed case was part of a coordinated political hit job orchestrated by the Justice Department.
FBI says it has disrupted major Chinese hacking operation that threatened US critical infrastructure
The FBI has used a court order to seize control of a network of hundreds of thousands of hacked internet routers and other devices that Chinese government-linked hackers were using to threaten critical infrastructure in the US and overseas, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday.
The Federal Reserve is preparing to cut interest rates for the first time in the Biden era after the White House spent the last three years grappling with Americans’ dissatisfaction with the cost of living, raising new questions about the health of the economy and the impact on voters at the ballot box.
Israeli officials notified the US that the country was going to carry out an operation in Lebanon on Tuesday but did not give any details about what they were planning, according to three sources familiar with the matter, including in a call between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant early Tuesday morning.