Clarence Thomas just gave Trump ammunition in his classified documents case

Justice Clarence Thomas joined the Supreme Court’s five other conservatives to grant Donald Trump and other presidents unprecedented immunity from criminal prosecution.

But he also wrote his own opinion taking aim at the special counsel handling the election interference case at the center of the ruling – days after Trump’s attorneys made the same arguments in a Florida courtroom.

Thomas went so far as to say that the federal judge overseeing Trump’s election interference case should reconsider whether Jack Smith was even lawfully appointed to the job, giving Trump and the judge presiding over Trump’s classified documents case more legal ammunition in his favor.

“If this unprecedented prosecution is to proceed, it must be conducted by someone duly authorized to do so by the American people,” Justice Thomas wrote. “The lower courts should thus answer these essential questions concerning the Special Counsel’s appointment before proceeding.”

Over seven pages, he goes on to argue against the appointment of special counsels, laying the groundwork for more challenges to Smith’s authority while Trump and his allies undermine his office in court and in Congress.

In two days of hearings in the Mar-a-Lago case last month, Trump’s attorneys and allies argued that Smith was unconstitutionally appointed and that his office is unlawfully funded.

In a rare move, Judge Aileen Cannon – the Trump-appointed judge overseeing the Mar-a-Lago case – allowed nonparties in the case to argue on Trump’s behalf, including attorneys with right-wing legal groups.

The groups claimed that the Supreme Court “will take a keen interest” in the judge’s decision, signaling that a challenge at the nation’s highest court could follow, further prolonging a