BREAKING: Special Counsel Jack Smith Moves To Reverse Decision In Classified Documents Case

On Monday, special counsel Jack Smith asked a federal appeals court to reverse the decision by Florida District Court Judge Aileen Cannon after she ruled that the classified documents case against 45th President Donald Trump was dismissed given the unconstitutional nature of Smith's appointment by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

As previously reported by the DC Enquirer, Cannon dismissed the case earlier this year on the grounds that Attorney General Merrick Garland did not properly appoint the special counsel, arguing that Smith's appointment violated the Constitution's Appointments Clause. "Both the Appointments and Appropriations challenges as framed in the Motion raise the following threshold question: is there a statute in the United States Code that authorizes the appointment of Special Counsel Smith to conduct this prosecution?" Cannon wrote. "After careful study of this seminal issue, the answer is no."

Smith's team argued in their appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals that Cannon's decision was "at odds with widespread and longstanding appointment practices in the Department of Justice and across the government." While Smith attempts to get Cannon's decision overturned, the case, which was brought after the Mar-a-Lago raid in 2022 and includes dozens of felony charges, will not reach trial before the November election. If the appeals court sided with Smith, Trump's defense team would likely appeal to the Supreme Court.

Prior to Cannon's dismissal of the case, the trial was repeatedly delayed as months of pre-trial hearings and the classified nature of the evidence bogged down the prosecutors. According to The Associated Press, Smith's team will attempt to argue that recent special counsel appointments have been upheld by judges and that the attorney general's ability to appoint special counsels is well-established.

Read special counsel Jack Smith's brief here.

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