Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Jack Smith‘s appeal of a ruling dismissing his prosecution of former President Donald J. Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents will likely not be settled until October at the earliest. On July 15, U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case, ruling that Smith’s appointment as special counsel violated the Appropriations and Appointments clauses of the Constitution.
In an order issued by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Smith has been given until August 27 to file his brief arguing why Judge Cannon‘s decision should be reversed. He will have an additional seven days to submit an appendix. Meanwhile, former President Trump‘s attorneys will have 30 days to submit their own brief after Smith’s is filed with the court. An additional 21 days is then granted to the Biden-Harris DOJ special counsel to file a response.
The timeline laid out by the Eleventh Circuit means that unless Smith can secure an expedited process, his appeal will not be ruled on by the appellate court until just before the November presidential election. Should Smith prove successful in reversing Judge Cannon‘s ruling, his prosecution would not be able to move forward before the election was already over.
Smith’s Florida-based prosecution of Trump was thrown out by Judge Cannon following a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on presidential immunity. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in a concurring opinion in Trump v. United States, posited that Smith‘s appointment was unconstitutional as he has not—in his entire career—received Senate confirmation. In addition, Thomas noted that Congress has not authorized the establishment of “the office that the Special Counsel occupies.”
show lessNEW — 11th Circuit lays out schedule for the Trump classified docs case appeal, which will run through October unless Special Counsel asks and gets it expedited pic.twitter.com/SgKbuUWaB7
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) July 25, 2024
