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As Cannon’s ruling makes clear, that’s not how the Constitution works.
Today’s permanent injunction drives that point home: if Smith had no lawful authority to investigate, he had no lawful authority to issue findings. Americans are under no obligation to accept conclusions drawn from a constitutionally invalid process. The injunction explicitly bars the Justice Department from “releasing, distributing, conveying, or sharing with anyone outside the Department of Justice any information or conclusions in Volume II or in drafts thereof.”
The Classified Documents Case That Was Supposed to End Trump
Democrats had pinned their hopes on Volume II. Smith’s investigation, covering 40 felony counts and 31 Espionage Act violations, was promoted as the ultimate legal strike against Trump, meant to leave a permanent mark on his political future.
They had photographs of boxes in bathrooms. They had surveillance footage of Trump aides moving documents away from federal agents.
None of it mattered. The law matters more than partisan ambition—and Garland broke it to get there. Cannon’s ruling states plainly: “Special Counsel Smith, acting without lawful authority, obtained an indictment in this action and initiated proceedings that resulted in a final order of dismissal.”
The presumption of innocence, which the left constantly lectures Americans about, applies equally to Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, as it does to any citizen never convicted of a crime.
Merrick Garland’s Legal Overreach
This was never a gray area. Conservative legal experts like Steven Calabresi and Gary Lawson of Notre Dame and Boston University have repeatedly warned that no Attorney General can assign U.S. Attorney-level powers to a “special counsel” without a congressional statute creating the office.
The controversy goes back decades. After the independent counsel statute expired in 1999, Congress never enacted a replacement. Previous administrations relied on DOJ regulations as a workaround—but Garland’s 2022 use of the same shortcut failed constitutional muster.
The same Merrick Garland who lectured Americans on the rule of law gave an unconstitutionally appointed prosecutor carte blanche to target a former president. Even the Pam Bondi-led DOJ acknowledged this, filing that Smith’s investigation was “unlawful from its inception.”
Appeals Are Coming—But the Damage Is Done
Groups like the Knight First Amendment Institute and American Oversight may take the ruling to the 11th Circuit. They are welcome to try.
The case is over. Nauta and De Oliveira have been pardoned. The political window Smith needed—when a report could sway public opinion before Trump’s second term solidified—is closed for good.
Democrats had hoped Volume II would haunt Trump indefinitely. Judge Aileen Cannon closed that door, applying the constitutional standard the left claims to champion.
The verdict is clear: Jack Smith never had the authority. The investigation built on a flawed foundation is dead.
