Trump is the Republican candidate challenging Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov 5 US election in a rematch from four years ago.
Cannon’s decision broke with decades of rulings by other federal courts that have upheld the authority of the attorney general to empower a special counsel to handle politically sensitive investigations.
The practice has been used for decades by presidential administrations of both political parties. Special counsels have also investigated Biden and his son Hunter Biden.
Cannon’s ruling dismissed the charges against Trump and co-defendants Walt Nauta, a personal aide to Trump, and Carlos De Oliveira, a property manager at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida where the documents were found during an FBI search.
Trump was accused of illegally retaining sensitive national security documents, including records related to the US nuclear program and potential military vulnerabilities, at his Mar-a-Lago resort after leaving office in January 2021. Trump and the two co-defendants also were accused of obstructing an investigation into Trump’s handling of the material.
Trump and his co-defendants had pleaded not guilty.
