SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK Smith has urged an appeals court to revive the classified documents case against former US president Donald Trump that was thrown out by a federal judge.

Trump allegedly kept classified documents — which included records from the Pentagon and CIA — unsecured at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida and thwarted efforts to retrieve them.

District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed the documents case last month on the grounds that Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel, usurping the role of Congress.

In the US, special counsel means a lawyer who investigates and prosecutes a case where the US Justice Department, which normally prosecutes federal cases, perceives itself to have a conflict of interest or if it is decided it would be in the public interest to have someone external to the government look into the case.

Smith, who was named special counsel by President Joe Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, appealed Cannon’s decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and filed a brief in the case on Monday.

In his 60-page brief, Smith said there has been a “long tradition of special-counsel appointments” by previous attorneys general and Congress had endorsed the practice.

“The district court’s contrary view conflicts with an otherwise unbroken course of decisions… and it is at odds with widespread and long-standing appointment practices in the Department of Justice and across the government,” Smith said.

“The district court’s rationale would likewise raise questions about hundreds of appointments throughout the Executive Branch, including in the Departments of Defense, State, Treasury, and Labor,” he added.

In the documents case, Trump was facing 31 counts of “willful retention of national defense information,” each punishable by up to 10 years in prison. He also faced charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements.

Trump, 78, faces multiple criminal cases as he tries to regain the White House. He was convicted in New York in May of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a porn star.

The 11th Circuit’s calendar makes it unlikely there will be a resolution of the case before the November presidential election, in which Trump is the Republican candidate.

Trump’s lawyers now have 30 days to respond to Smith’s brief. Smith then has 21 days to file a reply to Trump’s brief.

Cannon’s surprise ruling followed a Supreme Court opinion that former presidents enjoy broad immunity from criminal prosecution for their official acts.

That decision has helped Trump in his quest to delay the trials he faces until after the November 5 vote.

These include charges in Washington — also brought by Smith — and Georgia related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 White House election Trump lost to Biden.

© AFP 2024