Last month, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed Special Counsel Jack Smith's case against former and potentially future President Donald Trump for his handling of classified documents. On Monday afternoon, Smith appealed the decision to the 11th Circuit, claiming that she "erred" in her move to toss out the case.
Lawfare's Anna Bower shared the introduction of the order.
JUST IN: Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed his opening brief at the 11th Circuit, arguing that the appeals court should reverse Judge Aileen Cannon's order dismissing Trump's charges in the classified documents case. https://t.co/7XUDBmTUrl pic.twitter.com/dGwIMcyIqD
— Anna Bower (@AnnaBower) August 26, 2024
Cannon came to such a decision "based on the unlawful appointment and funding of Special Counsel Jack Smith." She also said that Smith's appointment by Attorney General Merrick Garland "violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution" and found that Smith's "use of a permanent indefinite appropriation also violates the Appointments Clause."
Smith argued in the introduction to his appeal that "Congress has bestowed on the Attorney General, the heads of many Executive Departments, broad authority to structure the agency he leads to carry out the responsibilities imposed on him by law."
"Precedent and history confirm those authorities, as do the long tradition of special-counsel appointments by Attorneys General and Congress's endorsement of that practice through appropriations and other legislation," Smith went on to write, in addition to citing statues. "The district court's contrary view conflicts with an otherwise unbroken course of decisions, including by the Supreme Court, that the Attorney General has such authority, and it is at odds with widespread and longstanding appointment practices in the Department of Justice and across the government."
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Cannon's decision to dismiss the case came the same month that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. United States that presidents in their official capacity have immunity from criminal prosecution.
As Katie highlighted at the time when Cannon dismissed the case, Justice Clarence Thomas argued in his concurrence of that Trump v. United States decision that Special Counsel appointments could be unconstitutional.
Smith's classified documents case is only one case against the Republican nominee. He has also brought charges against Trump for his actions on and leading up to January 6, with that case having returned to Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
A recent report from The New York post indicated that Smith looks to be "leaning against requesting a hearing in the next few months in which he could set out in expansive form the evidence behind his indictment of Mr. Trump," with what's described as a "mini-trial" looking unlikely before Election Day.
In the Georgia election interference case, Fulton County DA Fani Willis is facing her own issues with her case. Last month, the Georgia Court of Appeals set a date for a hearing to keep Willis on the case for December 5, a month after the election.
There's also the hushmoney case against Trump, who was convicted of 34 counts on May 30, with sentencing expected to take place next month in New York City.
"Jack Smith" and "11th Circuit" have both been trending over X as a result of the appeal.
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