Posts tagged with "U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon"

August 28, 2024

On Monday, August 26, federal prosecutors asked an appeals court to restore Donald Trump’s classified documents case—pushing back on the former president’s claims that Jack Smith’s appointment as special counsel violated the Constitution, reports NBC News.

“The Attorney General validly appointed the Special Counsel, who is also properly funded,” Assistant Special Counsel James Pearce, a member of Smith’s team, wrote in a brief filed with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. “In ruling otherwise, the district court deviated from binding Supreme Court precedent, misconstrued the statutes that authorized the special counsel’s appointment, and took inadequate account of the longstanding history of attorney general appointments of special counsels.”

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, last month granted Trump’s attorneys’ request to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that Smith’s appointment as special counsel violated the Constitution’s appointments and appropriations clauses.

It also notes that attorneys general have been appointing special counsels for more than 150 years, quoting from a 1998 law review article written by now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh that refers to the practice as a “deeply rooted tradition.”

The brief places a lot of emphasis on the Supreme Court’s 1974 ruling in United States v. Nixon, in which the court upheld the enforceability of a subpoena issued by the special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal.

The legality of a special counsel or prosecutor was not directly at question in Nixon, but the Supreme Court issued its ruling based on the presumption that such appointments were allowed.

Cannon’s order dismissing Trump’s classified documents case referred to that section of the Nixon decision as nonbinding, but Smith’s team contended on Monday that the decision was binding to lower courts.

“Apart from the district court below, every court to consider the question has concluded that the Supreme Court’s determination that those statutes authorized the attorney general to appoint the Watergate Special Prosecutor was necessary to the decision that a justiciable controversy existed and therefore constitutes a holding that binds lower courts,” Pearce wrote.

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith in 2022 to probe Trump’s handling of classified materials, as well as his efforts to subvert 2020 presidential election results in the lead-up to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Pearce noted in Monday’s filing what he characterized as the cascading impact Cannon’s dismissal would have on the federal government if her reasoning were upheld: “If the attorney general lacks the power to appoint inferior officers, that conclusion would invalidate the appointment of every member of the department who exercises significant authority and occupies a continuing office, other than the few that are specifically identified by statute,” Pearce wrote.

“The district court’s rationale would likewise raise questions about hundreds of appointments throughout the Executive Branch, including in the Departments of Defense, State, Treasury, and Labor,” Pearce added. “The implausibility of that outcome underscores why the district court’s novel conclusions lack merit.”

Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, said in a statement Monday that Cannon’s dismissal of the case should be upheld: “As we move forward in Uniting our Nation, not only should the dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida be affirmed, but be immediately joined by a dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts,” Cheung said, using a term that Trump and his allies have adopted to refer to the legal battles Trump faces.

Cheung also called the cases “political attacks” and characterized them as election interference as Trump seeks a second term as president.

Attorneys for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the filing.

Research contact: @NBCNews