As Rebecca wrote last night, Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is holding together his cases against former President Donald Trump with spit and duct tape, filed an appeal in the classified documents case. In July, Judge Aileen Cannon tossed the case entirely, citing the Appointments Clause:
In her decision granting Trump's motion to dismiss the case "based on the unlawful appointment and funding of Special Counsel Jack Smith," Judge Cannon said Smith's appointment by Attorney General Merrick Garland "violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution."
In addition, Judge Cannon found Smith's "use of a permanent indefinite appropriation also violates the Appointments Clause."
The ruling means the classified documents case is now officially closed and, unless an appeals court or ultimately the Supreme Court disagree, there will be no further prosecution for Trump's handling of documents after leaving office.
With Smith’s appeal, CNN’s Elie Honig, who has given a fair legal analysis of Trump’s legal woes, predicted that Smith would win this motion, citing four different laws where Congress grants the Attorney General of the United States broad powers in appointing federal agents and prosecutors to assist in cases. Smith could have asked Cannon to be removed from the case, but he did not in his brief. Honig noted it’s rare for the Justice Department to call for the removal of a federal district judge. Appeals Courts have removed judges, but this is also exceedingly rare. Honig and host Anderson Cooper then went into how this would blemish her career if Cannon is overruled again.
CNN Senior Legal Analyst @eliehonig joins Anderson to discuss new developments in Trump's classified documents case that was dismissed last month. pic.twitter.com/M9Se0KIMPs
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) August 27, 2024
When will we get an official ruling? Sorry, Democrats, this won’t be a 2024 campaign issue. Honig said the timeline is “blown up here,” adding that he would be shocked if the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals handed down their decision before November. The fate of this case now rests in the hands of the electorate—whoever wins the election determines the end game for this politically motivated wild goose chase.
As for the RICO case in Georgia, helmed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Honig thinks there’s a good chance this case will be thrown out. Honig noted that the controversy centered on Willis’ relationship with Nathan Wade, the now-former special prosecutor in this case. Honig thinks Willis’ public remarks are what’s going to sink this trial since she got in front of cameras and claimed the Trump legal team was motivated by racism as they filed their appeal. That’s wildly inappropriate, groundless, and taints the jury pool.
These points were made by the former president’s legal team yesterday.
As Honig concluded, “I think they [Trump’s lawyers] have a good chance of winning” the argument that this is official misconduct, and it undermines the rights of the accused.