Special Counsel Appeals Judge Ruling To Toss Trump Classified Document Case

Updated August 27, 2024

• Last month, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, calling the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith unconstitutional. 
• Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, said the Constitution gives only Congress or the president the authority to appoint a special counsel, not the U.S. Attorney General, in Smith's case. The district judge wrote:

"The Superseding Indictment is DISMISSED because Special Counsel Smith's appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution...The Special Counsel's position effectively usurps that important legislative authority, threatening the structural liberty inherent in the separation of powers."

• The Department of Justice gave the special counsel the right to appeal the order, which sends the case to the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit and adds months to the process. Smith is asking the 11th Circuit Court to reverse Cannon's order to dismiss the case and send it back for "further proceedings." 
• Cannon has been criticized by observers for delays and rulings that continue to favor Trump. Legal experts believe the Appeals court may have standing to ask Cannon to recuse herself from the case, although Smith's appeal did not call for that. Smith's appeal wrote:

"The district court erred...the Attorney General has statutory authority…to appoint a special prosecutor comparable to the Special Counsel. Precedent and history confirm those authorities, as do the long tradition of special-counsel appointments by Attorneys General and Congress' endorsement of the practice."

Updated June 15, 2023

• Walt Nauta, Trump's co-defendant and aide, is expected to appear in court on June 27 to enter a plea for himself. After that, there will be status conferences and procedural matters until the trial begins. 
• Trump's legal team could submit procedural protests, such as motions alleging selective prosecution, that could delay the trial potentially until after the 2024 election. 
• Trump's legal team is still up in the air, as two of his lawyers quit the day the indictment was unsealed. Christopher Kise and Todd Blanche, who represented the former president at the arraignment hearing on Tuesday, are expected to continue standing by Trump. 

Updated June 13, 2023 4:00pm EST

• Trump pleaded not guilty to the federal charges related to hoarding classified documents in his Mar-a-Lago resort.
• According to Reuters, Walt Nauta was not arraigned because he did not have a local attorney representing him. 

Updated June 13, 2023, 12:00pm EST

• Trump is due in court in Miami today to face his 37-count indictment, which accuses him of holding classified documents after leaving the White House. His appearance represents the first time a president of the U.S. has been put on criminal trial. 
• Reporters and spectators await Trump's arrival outside the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. courthouse. During his arraignment, Trump is expected to plead not guilty. 
• Trump called for supporters to meet him in Miami on Truth Social, posting:

"SEE YOU IN MIAMI ON TUESDAY!!!"

• After today's court appearance, the former president is expected to fly to Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., to give remarks. 

Updated June 12, 2023

• During a campaign rally in Georgia on Saturday, Trump denied any wrongdoing and fought against the charges he faces. He told Republican residents:

"This is a political hit job. Republicans are treated far different at the Justice Department than Democrats."

• He claimed that his indictment was "election interference" and an abuse of power by the Biden administration. These were the former president's first remarks since the DOJ released the indictment. 
• Trump was joined by Walt Nauta, his personal aide, who faces six counts related to obstruction and concealment.
• Trump's former Attorney General Bill Barr criticized him and his supporters who say he is being mistreated and targeted in the case against him. Barr said:

"This idea of presenting Trump as a victim here, a victim of a witch hunt, is ridiculous. Yes, he's been a victim in the past. Yes, his adversaries have obsessively pursued him with phony claims. And I've been at his side, defending against them when he is a victim. But this is much different. He's not a victim here."

Updated June 9, 2023, 3:30pm EST

• The Justice Department revealed Trump's indictment includes seven federal charges and 38 counts: 31 counts associated with withholding national defense information, five counts related to concealing possession of classified documents, and two counts of false statements. Read the full indictment here. 
• The documents say Trump illegally held documents concerning U.S. nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities of the U.S. and its allies to military attacks, and "plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack."
• The documents were packed in boxes along with clothes, gifts, photographs, and other materials and shipped to Mar-a-Lago by the General Services Administration.  
• Additionally, the prosecutors revealed that Trump caused his lawyers to falsely certify a statement for the Justice Department. 
• Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought the case, said in remarks on Friday:

"We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone."

• Trump told Fox News that he’s “totally innocent” and the indictment is “election interference at the highest level" and he will plead not guilty.

What's the story?

• Former President Donald Trump was officially indicted on Thursday by the Justice Department, accusing him of mishandling classified documents he kept upon leaving office and obstructing the government's efforts to retrieve them. 
• According to two people close to the matter, the former president faces seven federal charges, including willfully retaining national defense secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, making false statements, and a conspiracy to obstruct justice. 
• Trump is expected to surrender to authorities on Tuesday. The Justice Department has yet to publicly comment on the indictment, which was handed by a grand jury in Miami's Federal District Court.
• Fox News Digital reported Trump would plead not guilty. 

The case

• Last year, the FBI removed 11 sets of classified documents, including some labeled top secret, from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. 
• In 2018, then-President Trump signed a law making it a felony to take and retain classified documents. 

What they're saying

• Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy said on Twitter:

"I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump against this grave injustice. House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponization of power accountable."

• Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) tweeted: 

"Trump's apparent indictment on multiple charges arising from his retention of classified materials is another affirmation of the rule of law. For four years, he acted like he was above the law. But he should be treated like any other lawbreaker. And today, he has been."

• On his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump said: 

"This is indeed a DARK DAY for the United States of America. I am an innocent man. I did nothing wrong."

The big picture

• This is the first time a former U.S. president has faced federal charges. The indictment comes around two months after Trump was charged with 34 felony counts in a New York court for falsifying business records in the Stormy Daniels case, where he became the first former U.S. president in history to be criminally charged.
• Trump also pleaded not guilty to April's case, the first of two arraignments he's faced this year.  

Do you think Trump is guilty?

-Jamie Epstein