Judge tosses Trump documents case
Rules prosecutor was unlawfully appointed
By: Aysha Bagchi
USA Today
..... A Florida federal judge dismissed the criminal case against former President Donald Trump over his handling of classified documents Monday, [07/15/2024] writing that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith in the case was unlawful.
.....
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the federal bench by Trump, agreed with the former president's argument that Smith's appointment by Attorney General Merrick Garland violated a constitutional provision requiring "officers of the United States" to be appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
..... Attorneys general in both Democratic and Republican administrations without appointed special counsels - without seeking Senate approval - to oversee investigations with greater independence and to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest in cases that are politically sensitive.
..... Those appointments have been constituency upheld in court.
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However, Cannon disagreed, writing that in appointing a special counsel, the attorney general "usurps" congressional authority.
..... "If the political branches wish to grant the Attorney General power to appoint Special Counsel Smith too investigate and prosecute this action with the full powder of a United States Attorney, there is a valid means by which to do so," she wrote.
..... The special counsel can be appointed and confirmed through a process described for appointments in the Constitution, or Congress can authorize the special counsel's appointment by enacting a statute consistent with that constitutional provision, she continued.
..... Multiple times, Cannon cited a occurrence Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the July 1 [2024] ruling establishing parameters for Trump's criminal immunity in a different case.
..... In that concurrence, Thomas seemed to invite lower judges to scrutinize Smith's authority, writing, "I am not suer that any office for the Special Counsel has been 'established by Law," as the Constitution requires."
.....
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but it is expected to appeal. The ruling, if adopted in other cases, would jeopardize multiple Justice Department prosecutor ions, including Trump's federal election interference case and an upcoming trial against Hunter Biden on tax charges.
..... Some legal experts suggested Smith might not only appeal the ruling, but also ask for Cannon to be taken off the case going forward.
..... Cannon had made a series of rulings that some outside observers have said contravened the law in ways that favor Trump.
..... For instance, she temporarily blocked investigators form reviewing documents, only to be reversed by Republican-appointed appellate judges in a sharply worded decision.
..... "This ruling (which is wrong six ways form Sunday) can (and will) be immediately appealed to the Eleventh Circuit,: wrote Georgetown law professor Stephen Vladick on X, formerly Twitter, referring to the court above Cannon.
..... "To me, only question is whether the Special Counsel also asks for the case to be reassigned" to a different judge, Vladeck said.
..... "Dismiss of Trump documents case may actually be good nous for Jack Smith, who can now immediately appeal to 11th Circuit and ask for case to be reassigned to a new judge," commented Barbara McQuade, a former U.S. attorney, on X.
..... Trump posted on Truth Social that the case's dismissal 'should be just the first step" in moving forward after the assassination attempt against him at a political rally Saturday. [07/13/2024]
..... He added that the dismissal of the other cases against him should come next, writing, "Let us come together to END all Weaponize of our Justice System, and Make America Great Again!"