Posted on 07/28/2024 4:27:58 PM PDT by Libloather
The federal government’s classified documents indictment was once considered a “slam dunk.” But this month, Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida dismissed the case, ruling that the attorney general improperly appointed Jack Smith, and therefore Smith could not legally prosecute Trump. Smith promptly notified Cannon that he intends to appeal her decision, but it’s not clear what his strategy will be.
There is now a near-zero chance that Donald Trump will be tried over this case in front of a jury before November—but special counsel Jack Smith is forging ahead with an appeal that could go one of three ways.
In order to understand all of Smith’s options, I spoke to Dennis Fan, a former federal prosecutor, and Nancy Gertner, a former federal judge appointed by Bill Clinton. Both of them laid out three avenues the special counsel could take to keep his classified documents indictment alive.
The expected route: 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
Smith could file his appeal with the 11th Circuit (he’s only filed the notice of appeal so far), which would be the routine process for an appeal in this case. And both legal experts I spoke to believe this appeals court would likely reverse Cannon’s decision to dismiss the classified documents indictment. They believe she misinterpreted a 1966 federal statute that allows attorneys general to appoint special prosecutors, since the AG is a political appointee and could project an air of bias when prosecuting certain cases. “This is not really a constitutional issue at all; if anything it’s a bit of a statutory issue of what Jack Smith has the authority to do that the attorney general says he does,” said Fan.
Gertner also believes Cannon’s decision flies in the face of precedent, something district court judges don’t have the authority...
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
This jackazz from Slate is saying that she misinterpreted a 1966 statute that supposedly allows an AG to appoint a Special Prosecutor, while completely ignoring the fact that the Constitution and her ruling would have invalidated that law as well,since that law is in violation of the appointments clause.
Slate is delusional
“However, this route would require more work, because Garland would not be able to pick up Smith’s case and simply swap himself in; the attorney general would need to file a new, separate indictment.”
Garland cannot use Smith’s “evidence” from the Mar-a-Lago raid/attack because ALL of that is fruit of the poisonous tree. He cannot use Smith’s Grand Jury because THAT is tainted. He cannot use illegally gained evidence from the raid’s on Trump’s lawyers either.
He cannot refile anywhere else. He literally has NO STANDING because the court ruled he is a non-entity.
He can try a direct appeal to the Supremes where he lost unanimously in the past, and lost once on this case already. This fool needs to go away. He has no standing because he is not a US Attorney and holds superior powers to them, with no Senate confirmation as required.
1966? Seems like she’s making stuff up.
There is no longer US Code authorizing special counsels. The DOJ just made some stuff up as noted in Code of Federal Regulations, which aren’t laws. Anyone really interested can read the report of the Congressional Research Service, especially all the way to the end.
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R44857
1966? Seems like she’s making stuff up.
There is no longer US Code authorizing special counsels. The DOJ just made some stuff up as noted in Code of Federal Regulations, which aren’t laws. Anyone really interested can read the report of the Congressional Research Service, especially all the way to the end.
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R44857
The jeopardy could be lifted by an appeals court.
Don't think this is over yet.
Yes. What changed is that the law authorizing the appointment of a special counsel lapsed. There is no law and the intent of the legislature is unambiguous. They elected to allow the authority to lapse.
Does Jack Smith (if that’s really his name) have standing to appeal if he’s been deemed by the court to be illegitimate, or should Garlick himself file the appeal to defend his flawed appointement of Smith in the first place?
As I understand things, a special division of the DoJ is the only authorized prosecution entity for national security cases.
I think it is headed by a man named Jay Brant. He could refile.
Judge Cannon got to dump her workload significantly.
Jack Smith could become a DoJ employee, and get paid maybe $13,000/month instead of say $250/hour.
You still have the problem of the thugs jumbling docs around during the Mar a Lago raid.
I don’t see how Jack Smith can even reply or file an appeal, he is persona non grata, he has no authority to file any Federal case. The only way I can see the case being reinstated is for Garland to file a new pleading to settle the whether or not Smith can represent the US without being appointed by the president. I think it unlikely that any judge will now stick their neck out and say Smith can represent the US after Justice Thomas has already said he can’t. Since the 11th division is supervised by Thomas that means that an appeal will come through Thomas and the preliminary ruling will be in favor of Canon. Garland will have to reapply asking for En Banc hearing on the matter. At that point if the entire court rules that the Attorney General can bypass the Constitution and make appointments without the approval of the POTUS then the case can go back to Canon. At that point Smith could go back and take the case back up and start where he left off. It is much more likely (in my opinion) that the Supreme court will preserve the Constitution’s appointment clause intact and a new prosecutor will have to be assigned voiding all the previous evidence. With the evidence ruined there is no case.
I think Smith and Garland can make a lot of noise but I think it all over except for the shouting.
Constitution? Law? They mean nothing to a criminal.
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