Smith appeals dismissal of Trump's classified documents case

(The Center Square) – Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a notice of appeal after a judge tossed out charges related to former President Donald Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents.

The two-page notice said Smith planned to appeal Judge Aileen Cannon's decision to dismiss the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Cannon dismissed the classified documents-related criminal case against Trump on Monday because she said the appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith violated the U.S. Constitution. Cannon said that Smith’s appointment violated the Appointments Clause of the Constitution, in particular because the Biden administration funded the prosecution without authorization from Congress, which retains the power of the purse. Cannon said that Smith was operating with the power normally reserved for an attorney general but that unlike an attorney general, Smith was not given express permission by Congress to do so.

After a 2022 raid on Mar-A-Lago, Trump pleaded not guilty to 40 felony counts that alleged he kept sensitive military documents, shared them with people who didn't have security clearance, and tried to dodge the government's attempts to get them back.

Special counsels have been used to provide a degree of independence from the Justice Department in some cases.

Cannon's ruling doesn't bind the judge overseeing Trump's other federal felony case in Washington D.C. Smith filed the charges in that case as well.

In Washington, D.C., Smith's team of federal prosecutors charged Trump with four federal counts related to contesting the 2020 election and storming the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021. The charges are conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction, and conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one's vote counted, according to the indictment. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Trump's defense team has not questioned Smith's appointment in the D.C. case, but that could change.

A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling has further rattled the criminal cases Trump faces. In July, the high court ruled that presidents and former presidents have absolute immunity for actions related to core constitutional powers and presumptive immunity for official actions. The ruling, which was 6- 3, said the president has no immunity for unofficial conduct.