Earlier this month, the Supreme Court handed Donald Trump a massive legal win when it ruled that presidents are immune from prosecution for actions taken as part of their official duties, more or less destroying the federal election case against him. Now, two weeks later, another judge has literally demolished the classified-documents case, a move that means both of the federal cases against the ex-president are effectively over.

On Monday, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the entire classified-documents case against Trump, claiming in a court ruling that special counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, as the Senate should have confirmed Smith. Last year the Justice Department charged the ex-president with 40 counts of illegally retaining classified documents related to government defense and obstructing the government’s multiple attempts to get said documents back. As The Washington Post reported, one of the documents found during the FBI’s 2022 raid of Mar-a-Lago detailed a foreign government’s nuclear capabilities, while others contained “information about top secret US operations so closely guarded that many senior national security officials are kept in the dark about them.” A number of boxes of documents were stored in a bathroom, next to the toilet.

As the Post notes, “Trump attorneys have long considered the classified-documents case to be the strongest of the four criminal cases against him…and it was the case that most worried them.” Cannon’s ruling does not deal with either the crimes the ex-president has been accused of committing or the evidence the government has assembled. The legal theory concerning Smith’s appointment was not even taken up by Trump’s attorneys, per the Post, “until conservative legal groups pushed it.” Trump’s lawyers did not try to make the same argument before the judge in his federal election case, despite the fact that Smith was appointed by Garland to oversee that one as well.

Cannon’s handling of the documents case has long been criticized by legal experts, including former Trump attorney general William Barr. One of her orders was shot down in 2022 by a conservative appeals court, with a three-judge panel writing that she had “improperly exercised equitable jurisdiction, and that dismissal of the entire proceeding is required.” On X, former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann once wrote that Cannon “is completely unfit to serve on the bench,” later adding, “Something is SO off in her decisions.”

While it’s not clear if Cannon’s ruling will ultimately stand—the Justice Department is almost certain to appeal it—it seems that a certain Trump-friendly Supreme Court justice might have inspired the Trump-appointed judge to just go for it.

Per the Post:

…the legal argument gained more steam this month after Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the presidential immunity case that the special counsel’s office needs to be established by Congress and that Smith needed to be confirmed by the Senate. Thomas urged lower courts to explore this issue. The justice wrote that he tacked on his concurring opinion to the immunity ruling to “highlight another way in which this prosecution may violate our constitutional structure.”

Cannon held two hearings on the appointment of the special counsel last month, a few weeks before Thomas issued his opinion. During the hearing, it was not clear how she would rule, but she acknowledged that precedent seemed to support Garland’s appointment of Smith and that there would be a high legal bar for overturning it.

Speaking of Thomas, fans of the man attended an event, the “Thomas Clerk World Retreat,” at the Omni Homestead in Virginia over the weekend. Guests were treated to s’mores and fireworks, and entire families were seen wearing T-shirts that read “THOMAS CLERK WORLD RETREAT” and “DON’T LET ’EM STEAL YOUR JOY.” A banner declaring “LIBERTY AND JUSTICE (THOMAS) FOR ALL” was on display outside at one point, though it was removed not too long after it went up. (A spokesperson for the Omni Homestead did not immediately respond to Vanity Fair’s request for comment.)

On Monday, Trump responded to Cannon’s ruling on Truth Social, writing, “This dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts — The January 6th Hoax in Washington, D.C., the Manhattan D.A.’s Zombie Case, the New York A.G. Scam, Fake Claims about a woman I never met (a decades old photo in a line with her then husband does not count), and the Georgia ‘Perfect’ Phone Call charges. The Democrat Justice Department coordinated ALL of these Political Attacks, which are an Election Interference conspiracy against Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME. Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System, and Make America Great Again!”