MIAMI 鈥� Special Counsel Jack Smith says U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon was wrong when last month against former President Donald Trump for mishandling classified and top-secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
In with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, Smith says Judge Cannon was also mistaken in ruling that the process used to appoint the Special Counsel was unconstitutional.
Smith is , asking the 11th Circuit Court to the case and send it back 鈥渇or further proceedings.鈥� In his brief, the Special Counsel does not ask the court to remove the Trump-appointed judge from the case.
Even before her dismissal, Cannon was criticized by legal observers for delays and rulings that favored Trump. If the Appeals court reverses her ruling, many legal observers believe it may also ask Cannon to recuse herself from the case.
In her ruling last month, Judge Cannon said that Attorney General Merrick Garland exceeded his constitutional authority in appointing a prosecutor who was not subject to Congressional approval. 鈥淭he Special Counsel鈥檚 position effectively usurps that important legislative authority,鈥� she wrote, 鈥渢hreatening the structural liberty inherent in the separation of powers.鈥�
Cannon鈥檚 opinion runs counter to decades of rulings by other federal courts upholding the constitutionality of the Special Counsel鈥檚 office.
In her analysis, Cannon examined an important 1974 Watergate-era Supreme Court opinion. Cannon determined that the Justice鈥檚 鈥減assing remarks鈥� are not 鈥渂inding precedent on future cases.鈥� But in his brief Smith says, 鈥淭he district court erred.鈥� In that case, Smith says the Supreme Court held 鈥渢he Attorney General has statutory authority鈥o appoint a special prosecutor comparable to the Special Counsel.鈥�
Smith lists four statutes passed by Congress that authorize the appointment and funding of the Special Counsel鈥檚 office.
鈥淧recedent and history confirm those authorities,鈥� Smith writes, 鈥渁s do the long tradition of special-counsel appointments by Attorneys General and Congress鈥� endorsement of the practice.鈥� Special Counsels have been appointed by Attorneys鈥� General for more than 150 years, Smith points out, and were used after the Civil War to prosecute Jefferson Davis for treason and a conspirator involved in the assassination of President Lincoln.
Trump鈥檚 lawyers have 30 days to file their reply to Smith鈥檚 brief. Smith is asking the 11th Circuit to schedule oral arguments, saying he believes they 鈥渨ould assist the Court鈥檚 decisional process in this case of significant public importance.鈥�
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