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20-year-old man shot dead in assassination attempt on Trump at Bethel Park, Pennsylvania rally
DECATUR, GA – Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04), the U.S. House of Representatives’ leading legislator on court reform, released the following statement after U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed former President Trump’s classified documents case in Florida.
Cannon dismissed the case against former President Donald Trump on today, July 15, in agreement with defense attorneys who said that special counsel, Jack Smith, was illegally appointed by the Justice Department. Defense lawyers said Attorney Merrick Garland violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause because it did not go through Congress and that Smith’s office was improperly funded by the Justice Department.
The indictment against the former Republican President included felony counts accusing him of illegally storing classified records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and obstructing FBI efforts to get them back. Trump had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Congressman Johnson issued the following statement:
“The constitutionality of Jack Smith’s appointment as Special Counsel was not an issue considered by the SCOTUS MAGA majority when it conferred immunity on King Trump,” said Rep. Johnson, chair of the House Court Reform Now Task Force and ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts. “However, Justice Thomas used his concurring opinion to publicly provide a roadmap for that issue to return to him and his soulmates. Today, just as the Republican Coronation Convention opens, “Justice” Cannon delivered. As she auditions to join Thomas on SCOTUS, Thomas, his wife and the others get more goodies from the oligarchs. We must fix our broken democracy by fixing SCOTUS. Court Reform Now!”
The dismissal in the documents case comes as Trump recovers from an assassination attempt at a July 13 rally in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania and as he prepares to accept the Republican nomination in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this weekend.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was shot dead by Secret Service snipers in the assassination attempt.
The Associated Press reported that Trump was shot in the ear as he spoke during an outdoor rally. The Secret Service fatally took down Crooks, who had climbed atop of a building and shot the former President.
Trump said on social media the upper part of his right ear was pierced in the shooting. Advisers said Trump was in “great spirits” ahead of his arrival on Sunday in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the Republican National Convention.
The FBI said it believes Crooks, who had bomb-making materials in the car he drove to the rally, acted alone. Agents were checking Crooks background, social media activities while working to get access to his phone. According to various media reports, agents and other investigators had descended on Crooks’ home, where family members are cooperating with the investigation.
Two spectators were critically injured in the incident, while a former fire chief in the Bethel Park area, Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed while shielding his family members.