WASHINGTON – U.S. special counsel Jack Smith has asked a federal appeals court to overturn the dismissal of a lawsuit accusing former President Donald Trump of improperly handling classified documents at his Florida home after leaving the Oval Office.
The appeals process could take months and is likely to result in no progress in the classified documents case against Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential candidate, before the November election.
Smith argued tardy Monday that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to dismiss the case was based on the “flawed” reasoning that Smith was illegally appointed as special counsel.
Over 81 pages meager In his motion filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Smith cited Watergate-era statutes and a Supreme Court decision to support the long-established legality of the U.S. Attorney General’s appointment and funding of independent or special prosecutors.
“In ruling otherwise, the district court departed from binding Supreme Court precedent, misinterpreted the statutes authorizing the special counsel’s appointment, and failed to adequately consider the long history of the Attorney General’s appointment of special counsels,” Smith wrote.
He also warned: “[t]The district court’s reasoning could jeopardize the Justice Department’s years of work and call into question hundreds of appointments across the executive branch.”
Cannon, a federal judge for the Southern District of Florida, the case of secret documents dismissed against Trump on July 15 – two days after Trump was injured in an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania and just as the Republican National Convention unleashed Wisconsin.
Cannon is a Trump-appointed candidate who was nominated in 2020 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate later that same year.
Trump had argued for the case to be dismissed in February.
Days before he was due to officially accept his party’s presidential nomination, Trump hailed Cannon’s firing as a way to unite the nation after the attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Cannon argued that Smith’s appointment violated two clauses of the U.S. Constitution that govern how presidential administrations and Congress appoint and confirm “officers of the United States” and how taxpayer money may be used to pay their salaries and other expenses.
Just a few days later, Smith appealed her decision.
Case of historical secret documents
Smith’s historic case against Trump marked the first time a former U.S. president was charged in federal court.
A grand jury issued a 37-count indictment in June 2023 charging the former president and his adviser Walt Nauta with crimes related to the misuse of classified documents after Trump’s term in office, including storing them at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Indictment As a result, additional charges were brought and just over a month later, another co-defendant was handed over.
The case of the secret documents is just one of several legal entanglements for Trump, who is convicted felon in New York State Court in May.
The former president continues to face federal charges for alleged conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. This case has also been on hold for several months as Trump has appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the charges should be dropped due to the president’s criminal immunity.
The Supreme Court ruled in early July that former presidents enjoy immunity for official “core constitutional laws” and sent the case back to federal court in Washington, DC.
Smith has until the end of August to assess how the immunity decision affects the election fraud case against Trump. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for September 5.
