Special counsel Jack Smith appeals dismissal of Trump Mar-a-Lago case
Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday appealed federal Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling dismissing his classified records Mar-a-Lago case against former President Donald Trump, arguing that his appointment is valid.
Cannon, the U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida, last month dismissed Smith's case against Trump, ruling that it violated "the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution."
Cannon said Smith’s appointment of special counsel was unconstitutional.
But Smith appealed Monday.
JUDGE DISMISSES TRUMP'S FLORIDA CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS CASE
"The Attorney General validly appointed the Special Counsel, who is also properly funded," the filing states. "In ruling otherwise, the district court deviated from binding Supreme Court precedent, misconstrued the statutes that authorized the Special Counsel’s appointment, and took inadequate account of the longstanding history of Attorney General appointments of special counsels."
"The district court’s contrary view conflicts with an otherwise unbroken course of decisions, including by the Supreme Court, that the Attorney General has such authority, and it is at odds with widespread and longstanding appointment practices in the Department of Justice and across the government," Smith argued. "This Court should reverse."
Smith also argues that he was "properly funded through the congressionally enacted ‘permanent indefinite appropriation’ to ‘pay all necessary expenses of investigations and prosecutions by independent counsel appointed pursuant to'" U.S. code.
"The district court’s contrary conclusion depended solely on its erroneous determination that no ‘other law’ supported the Special Counsel’s appointment," he continued. "Because its premise was wrong, so