Current:Home > ScamsSpecial counsel urges appeals court to reinstate classified documents case against Trump -MoneyBase
Special counsel urges appeals court to reinstate classified documents case against Trump
View
Date:2025-04-12 18:07:17
WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith asked a federal appeals court Monday to reinstate the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump after it was dismissed by a judge last month.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon threw out the case, one of four prosecutions of Trump, after concluding that Smith’s appointment as special counsel was unconstitutional.
Smith’s team then appealed to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, with prosecutors saying in their appeal brief that Cannon’s decision is “at odds with widespread and longstanding appointment practices in the Department of Justice and across the government.”
The appeal is the latest development in a prosecution that many legal experts consider a straightforward criminal case but has been derailed by delays, months of hearings before Cannon, a Trump-appointed judge, and ultimately a dismissal order that brought the proceedings to at least a temporary halt.
It’s unclear how long it will take for the appeals court to decide the matter, but even if it overturns Cannon’s dismissal and revives the prosecution, there’s no chance of a trial before the November presidential election and Trump, if elected, could appoint an attorney general who would dismiss the case.
The case includes dozens of felony charges that Trump illegally retained classified documents from his presidency at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and obstructed the government’s efforts to get them back. He has pleaded not guilty.
Smith was appointed special counsel in November 2022 by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Trump’s handling of the documents as well as his efforts to undo the 2020 presidential election ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Both investigations resulted in criminal charges, though the election subversion prosecution faces an uncertain future following a U.S. Supreme Court decision last month that conferred broad immunity on Trump and narrowed the scope of the case.
Defense lawyers in the classified documents case had argued that Smith’s appointment violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, a motion that prompted Cannon to hold a multi-day hearing in June. The judge sided with the defense, saying no specific statute permitted Garland’s appointment of Smith and saying Smith had been unlawfully appointed because he had not been named to the position by the president or confirmed by the Senate.
Smith’s team is expected to point out that special counsel appointments have been repeatedly upheld by judges in multiple cases, and that an attorney general’s ability to name a special counsel is well-established.
veryGood! (1)
Related
- Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
- Gabriel Attal appointed France's youngest ever, first openly gay prime minister by President Macron
- Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds focuses on education, health care in annual address
- For 2024, some simple lifestyle changes can improve your little piece of the planet
- Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
- Ford recalls 130,000 vehicles for increased risk of crash: Here's which models are affected
- 'Baywatch' star Nicole Eggert reveals breast cancer diagnosis: 'Something I have to beat'
- Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds focuses on education, health care in annual address
- 'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
- As DeSantis and Haley face off in Iowa GOP debate, urgency could spark fireworks
Ranking
- Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
- US and Chinese military officers resume talks as agreed by Biden and Xi
- Family of Arizona professor killed on campus settles $9 million claim against university
- A one-on-one debate between Haley and DeSantis could help decide the Republican alternative to Trump
- Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
- US defends its veto of call for Gaza ceasefire while Palestinians and others demand halt to fighting
- Musk's X signs content deals with Don Lemon, Tulsi Gabbard and Jim Rome
- Yemen’s Houthi rebels launch drone and missile attack on Red Sea shipping, though no damage reported
Recommendation
Bill Belichick's salary at North Carolina: School releases football coach's contract details
Votes by El Salvador’s diaspora surge, likely boosting President Bukele in elections
Sports gambling creeps forward again in Georgia, but prospects for success remain cloudy
No charges to be filed in death of toddler who fell into cistern during day care at Vermont resort
Global Warming Set the Stage for Los Angeles Fires
Pope Francis blasts surrogacy as deplorable practice that turns a child into an object of trafficking
NPR's 24 most anticipated video games of 2024
No charges to be filed in death of toddler who fell into cistern during day care at Vermont resort