Politics

Special Counsel Jack Smith appeals judge’s dismissal of Trump documents case

This August 2022 image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice shows a redacted FBI photograph of certain documents and classified cover sheets recovered from a container in the “45 office” seized during the Aug. 8, 2022, search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
This August 2022 image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice shows a redacted FBI photograph of certain documents and classified cover sheets recovered from a container in the “45 office” seized during the Aug. 8, 2022, search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Handout/Department of Justice via USA TODAY NETWORK

Special Counsel Jack Smith has appealed a decision by Aileen Cannon, a federal judge in Florida, to dismiss a criminal case against former President Donald Trump over his handling of classified material after she questioned the constitutionality of his appointment by the Justice Department.

Smith had 30 days to appeal the matter, but did so within just two days. Smith had charged Trump with mishandling some of the government’s most sensitive documents, and attempting to cover up a scheme to conceal them from federal investigators.

After Cannon published her decision to dismiss the case on Monday, Smith’s office said that the Justice Department had authorized them to appeal the matter.

“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 Smith’s spokesman, Peter Carr.

This story was originally published July 17, 2024 at 3:43 PM.

Michael Wilner
McClatchy DC
Michael Wilner is an award-winning journalist and was McClatchy’s chief Washington correspondent. Wilner joined the company in 2019 as a White House correspondent, and led coverage for its 30 newspapers of the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and the Biden administration. Wilner was previously Washington bureau chief for The Jerusalem Post. He holds degrees from Claremont McKenna College and Columbia University and is a native of New York City.
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