By Allan Lengel
Update: 5:45 p.m. Monday — Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office indicated it will appeal the ruling by Florida U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon, who dismissed the document case against Donald Trump, saying the special counsel was illegally appointed.
“The dismissal of the case deviates from the uniform conclusion of all previous courts to have considered the issue that the Attorney General is statutorily authorized to appoint a Special Counsel,” said Peter Carr, a spokesman for Smith. “The Justice Department has authorized the Special Counsel to appeal the court’s order.”
From Earlier Monday
In a case surely headed for appeal, Florida U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon has dismissed the classified documents charges against former president Donald Trump, ruling that special counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed.
Smith will likely file an appeal to overturn the ruling by Cannon, a Trump appointee who has made questionable decisions in the past in the case that have been overturned.
The Washington Post writes:
U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon’s ruling is a remarkable win for Trump, whose lawyers have thrown longshot argument after longshot argument to dismiss the case. Other courts have rejected similar arguments to the one that he made in Florida about Smith’s unlawful appointment.
“Upon careful study of the foundational challenges raised in the Motion, the Court is convinced that Special Counsel’s Smith’s prosecution of this action breaches two structural cornerstones of our constitutional scheme—the role of Congress in the appointment of constitutional officers, and the role of Congress in authorizing expenditures by law,” Cannon concluded in her 93-page order, The Post reports.
