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SALT LAKE CITY — Several Utah Republicans celebrated news Monday that a judge has dismissed the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump in Florida.
After being out of the spotlight for the past couple of weeks as Democrats' panic over President Joe Biden's disastrous June debate performance has dominated the national conversation, the former president is back at the top of the news cycle following Saturday's assassination attempt that left one rallygoer dead and two others injured. The 20-year-old gunman, whose motives remain unclear, was killed by Secret Service agents.
Trump will accept the GOP's nomination this week at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where he is expected to announce his running mate on Monday.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, ruled on Monday to dismiss the U.S. Justice Department's prosecution of the former president for allegedly retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, siding with Trump's attorneys who argued the special counsel who indicted Trump was illegally appointed. The decision can be appealed to a higher court, but represents a major legal win for the former president.
In the wake of the attempt on Trump's life, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Robert O'Brien, the former U.S. national security adviser to Trump, issued a joint statement calling for the four separate criminal cases against the former president to be dropped as a way to cool the "political temperature."
"We've got to take the political temperature down, as evidence by what happened in Pennsylvania today," Lee posted from his personal account on X. "We call on President Biden to immediately order that all federal criminal charges against President Trump be dropped, and to ask the governors of New York and Georgia to do the same. Such a gesture would help heal wounds and allow all Americans to take a deep breath and reflect on how we got here. Our prayers are with the victims of the shooting, President Trump and our country."
Trump has been charged in four separate cases dating back to last spring. He was found guilty of 34 felonies related to his alleged hush money payments to an adult film star in New York, charged with allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, and charged by the Justice Department with illegally retaining documents and for his alleged role in the events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot.
Both cases brought by the Justice Department were charged by special counsel Jack Smith, and the two state cases are not subject to oversight from the federal department.
Lee issued a statement Monday celebrating Cannon's decision as "good news for America. Bad news for lawfare and the weaponization of our justice system." Lee and other Republicans have criticized the indictments against Trump as "lawfare" and have said they believe the cases are politically motivated.
"Dismissal of the Trump 'classified documents' case is a win for America — and a win for the rule of law," Lee posted.
Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, called the dismissal a "huge blow to the lawfare campaign" and a "huge win for President Trump."
Owens, who is in Milwaukee for the GOP convention, told television outlet Real America's Voice that Trump "really highlights who America is" following the assassination attempt.
"We have this desire to become a more perfect union. That's who we are," he said. "In the last few years we've been losing that and we're just tired. We're tired of the negative. We're tired of the fighting and this is our time to coalesce behind President Trump, who's going to put America first, put the policies in place. These next two to five years are going to be some exciting times for us."
