The dismissal of the case against two of President Trump’s co-defendants in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Mar-a-Lago prosecution marks the end of the classified documents case that once threatened to convict Mr. Trump under the Espionage Act. He could have faced decades in prison. 

The case now ends, as the poet put it, “not with a bang but a whimper.” The final blow came from the 11th United States Appeals Court, which on Tuesday granted a motion from the Department of Justice to dismiss an appeal by Mr. Smith. The appellate ruling comprised but one line — “This appeal is DISMISSED.”