What happened
Special counsel Jack Smith asked the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday to overturn U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's dismissal of the federal classified documents and obstruction case against Donald Trump. Smith told the court that Cannon, a 2020 Trump appointee, had made grievous and dangerous legal errors when ruling in July that Attorney General Merrick Garland had no legal authority to appoint special prosecutors.
Who said what
Cannon "deviated from binding Supreme Court precedent, misconstrued the statutes that authorized the special counsel's appointment and took inadequate account" of historical precedents, a member of Smith's team wrote in a brief. Attorneys general have "repeatedly appointed special and independent counsels" since the 1850s, from "the prosecution of Jefferson Davis" to "Watergate, and beyond."
Cannon's surprise decision "halted what was considered by many lawyers to be the strongest criminal case" against Trump, The Washington Post said. The case has "moved so slowly under Cannon's oversight that some legal observers questioned whether the judge was in over her head," The Wall Street Journal said. The same appeals court already reversed her once in this case.
What next?
Trump's lawyers have 30 days to file their response to Smith's appeal. Even if Smith prevails, The Associated Press said, "there's no chance of a trial before the November presidential election."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
‘City leaders must recognize its residents as part of its lifeblood’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem might not be long for TrumplandIN THE SPOTLIGHT She has been one of the most visible and vocal architects of Trump’s anti-immigration efforts, even as her own star risks fading
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Will there be peace before Christmas in Ukraine?Today's Big Question Discussions over the weekend could see a unified set of proposals from EU, UK and US to present to Moscow
-
‘The menu’s other highlights smack of the surreal’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million
-
US seizes oil tanker off VenezuelaSpeed Read The seizure was a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
The Trump administration says it deports dangerous criminals. ICE data tells a different story.IN THE SPOTLIGHT Arrest data points to an inconvenient truth for the White House’s ongoing deportation agenda
