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From the New York Times, I'm Sabrina Tavernisi, and this is the daily. As the Republican National Convention entered its second day, Donald Trump and his allies absorbed the stunning new reality that the most formidable legal case against him had been thrown out by a federal judge. Today, my colleague Alan Feuer on what it means that the classified documents case may now be dead. It's Wednesday, July 17. So, Allen, it's been a pretty relentless week of news about Donald Trump. An assassination attempt, him announcing his vice presidential pick at the start of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Monday night. And amidst all of that, we got the news that really, in any other week would have been the only thing anyone was talking about. And that is what appears to be a major legal victory for Trump. The judge in the classified documents case threw out the case. Remind us about this case.

Sure. This is the case against Trump in which he stands accused of taking a trove of highly classified documents from the White House after he's left office, down to his new post presidential home in Mar a Lago, his club in Florida. And not only has he been accused of taking this stuff, these state secrets that really no longer belong to him because he's no longer president, he then has been charged with willfully obstructing the government's repeated efforts over the course of months to get these documents back. Right. And the one investigative step in this case that everyone will surely remember is when the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar a Lago two summers ago, and they hauled away 45 boxes of stuff and found more than 100 classified documents in those boxes.

Right, the boxes stacked in the bathroom, the classified documents all over the house in Mar a Lago. And if I remember correctly, this was the most straightforward of all of the Trump cases, right? This was the one that was the most clear cut against him.

Yeah, the charges were relatively simple. And, you know, the evidence against him was very strong evidence on the side that special prosecutors need to be more constrained, that there aren't enough regulations on them. So on the spectrum of independence and accountability, she wants much more accountability and much less independence. And that issue, once it gets played out through the courts, could have important ramifications. In a world in which Donald Trump retakes the White House and carries through on his promises to weaponize the Justice Department against his enemies, who will be there? Should special counsels be stripped of the independence that they have traditionally have to investigate the kinds of abuses of prosecutorial power that Trump is contemplating, that Trump has promised to do. And so at the moment that this country might most need to look to independent prosecutors to hold powerful political figures accountable, it's conceivable that their powers of independence might be constrained.So in the longer term, this ruling really could have some pretty far reaching consequences. I mean, depending on how it moves through the courts and on what happens in November and in the immediate term, I have to imagine that the political implications are going to be pretty profound, too.Yes, that's right. Judge Kenneth's decision didn't only just get rid of this case for Trump. What it really did is it bolstered a narrative that he has been pushing from the very beginning of all of these cases, which is that they were lawless brought by a prosecutor who shouldn't have been there in the first place and that they were unconstitutional. And Trump can now point to a ruling by a federal judge that essentially says, this guy, Jack Smith, who has brought these two federal cases against me, got his job improperly and should never have been in place to begin with. So what Judge Cannon has done is hand Trump a political cudgel at this extraordinary moment in his presidential campaign right as he's getting the nomination. And that allows him to kind of push back against one of the central arguments that the Biden campaign has made against him, which is that he is a convicted felon with four criminal cases brought against him. And, you know, Trump now gets to point to a federal judge's ruling that ratifies his own narrative. So whether she meant to or not, what Judge Cannon has essentially given Trump is a way to say, hey, you don't have to believe me.Believe her. The witch hunt is real.Alan, thank you.You're welcome.We'll be right back.You already have ambition for your business. It's time to transform it into your reality.As the world's largest professional services firm.Only Deloitte can bring together the capabilities and experience your business needs to thrive, from possibility to sustainability. Together, we will drive changes that are great for your business and good for the planet. Start your journey today at Deloitte A and experience the difference we can make together.Hi, I'm Josh Hayner, and I'm a staff photographer at the New York Times covering climate change. For years, we've sort of imagined this picture of a polar bear floating on a piece of ice. Those have been the images associated with climate change. My challenge is to find stories that show you how climate change is affecting our world right now. If you want to support the kind of journalism that we're working on here on the climate and environment desk at the New York Times, please subscribe on our website or our app.Here's what else you should know. Today, a jury in New York found Senator Robert Menendez, a and corrupt businessmen in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, a luxury car, and bars of gold.I have never been anything but a patriot of my country, and for my country, I have never, ever been a foreign agent.Speaking after the verdict, Menendez remained defiant and vowed to appeal. Menendez is the first us senator to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent. He now faces potentially decades in prison. Meanwhile, in Washington, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Menendez, whose term expires at the end of the year, to resign immediately. New Jersey's democratic governor, Phil Murphy said that if Menendez stepped down, he would make a temporary appointment to fill the seat. Today's episode was produced by Nina Feldman, Will Reid, and Asta Chaturvedi. It was edited by Mark George with help from Paige Cowett, contains original music by Rowan Nimisto, Dan Powell, Alicia Bayetube and Diane Wong, and was engineered by Alyssa Moxley. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk. Of Wonderly. That's it for the daily I'm Sabrina Tavernisi. See you tomorrow.You already have ambition for your business. It's time to transform it into your reality.As the world's largest professional services firm.Only Deloitte can bring together the capabilities and experience your business needs needs to thrive.Embark on a journey from legacy to.Leading where we help you see your world in digital and build a resilient business for tomorrow. Start your journey today at Deloitte and experience the difference we can make together.

on the side that special prosecutors need to be more constrained, that there aren't enough regulations on them. So on the spectrum of independence and accountability, she wants much more accountability and much less independence. And that issue, once it gets played out through the courts, could have important ramifications. In a world in which Donald Trump retakes the White House and carries through on his promises to weaponize the Justice Department against his enemies, who will be there? Should special counsels be stripped of the independence that they have traditionally have to investigate the kinds of abuses of prosecutorial power that Trump is contemplating, that Trump has promised to do. And so at the moment that this country might most need to look to independent prosecutors to hold powerful political figures accountable, it's conceivable that their powers of independence might be constrained.

So in the longer term, this ruling really could have some pretty far reaching consequences. I mean, depending on how it moves through the courts and on what happens in November and in the immediate term, I have to imagine that the political implications are going to be pretty profound, too.

Yes, that's right. Judge Kenneth's decision didn't only just get rid of this case for Trump. What it really did is it bolstered a narrative that he has been pushing from the very beginning of all of these cases, which is that they were lawless brought by a prosecutor who shouldn't have been there in the first place and that they were unconstitutional. And Trump can now point to a ruling by a federal judge that essentially says, this guy, Jack Smith, who has brought these two federal cases against me, got his job improperly and should never have been in place to begin with. So what Judge Cannon has done is hand Trump a political cudgel at this extraordinary moment in his presidential campaign right as he's getting the nomination. And that allows him to kind of push back against one of the central arguments that the Biden campaign has made against him, which is that he is a convicted felon with four criminal cases brought against him. And, you know, Trump now gets to point to a federal judge's ruling that ratifies his own narrative. So whether she meant to or not, what Judge Cannon has essentially given Trump is a way to say, hey, you don't have to believe me.

Believe her. The witch hunt is real.

Alan, thank you.

You're welcome.

We'll be right back.

You already have ambition for your business. It's time to transform it into your reality.

As the world's largest professional services firm.

Only Deloitte can bring together the capabilities and experience your business needs to thrive, from possibility to sustainability. Together, we will drive changes that are great for your business and good for the planet. Start your journey today at Deloitte A and experience the difference we can make together.

Hi, I'm Josh Hayner, and I'm a staff photographer at the New York Times covering climate change. For years, we've sort of imagined this picture of a polar bear floating on a piece of ice. Those have been the images associated with climate change. My challenge is to find stories that show you how climate change is affecting our world right now. If you want to support the kind of journalism that we're working on here on the climate and environment desk at the New York Times, please subscribe on our website or our app.

Here's what else you should know. Today, a jury in New York found Senator Robert Menendez, a and corrupt businessmen in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, a luxury car, and bars of gold.

I have never been anything but a patriot of my country, and for my country, I have never, ever been a foreign agent.

Speaking after the verdict, Menendez remained defiant and vowed to appeal. Menendez is the first us senator to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent. He now faces potentially decades in prison. Meanwhile, in Washington, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Menendez, whose term expires at the end of the year, to resign immediately. New Jersey's democratic governor, Phil Murphy said that if Menendez stepped down, he would make a temporary appointment to fill the seat. Today's episode was produced by Nina Feldman, Will Reid, and Asta Chaturvedi. It was edited by Mark George with help from Paige Cowett, contains original music by Rowan Nimisto, Dan Powell, Alicia Bayetube and Diane Wong, and was engineered by Alyssa Moxley. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk. Of Wonderly. That's it for the daily I'm Sabrina Tavernisi. See you tomorrow.

You already have ambition for your business. It's time to transform it into your reality.

As the world's largest professional services firm.

Only Deloitte can bring together the capabilities and experience your business needs needs to thrive.

Embark on a journey from legacy to.

Leading where we help you see your world in digital and build a resilient business for tomorrow. Start your journey today at Deloitte and experience the difference we can make together.