JACK SMITH: Judge Cannon Hears Trump Argument to Dismiss 

President Donald Trump’s classified documents case is back in Judge Aileen Cannon’s Florida courtroom today as lawyers debate whether Special Counsel Jack Smith was “unlawfully appointed” as a prosecutor. Trump’s legal team is arguing that Smith should be dismissed.
Trump’s hearing today concerns the process of appointing Special Counsels. Friday was the first day of the hearing, and legal experts weighed in on the issue. Today lawyers from Trump’s team and the government will examine Smith’s appointment.
Judge Cannon’s decision to hold a hearing on this issue ushers in a new era for the justice system. We’ve never gotten this far in discussing the constitutionality of Special Counsels before. Courts have never really had an interest in it. We used to have an office for Independent Counsels, of which Kenneth Starr was a part as well, but it was shut down.
If a U.S. attorney were handling Trump’s classified documents case, today’s hearing wouldn’t be happening. However, Smith was appointed as Special Counsel under federal regulations establishing the procedure for doing so - bureaucratic regulation, not congressionally passed law. And that’s the rub here. The statutory authority to appoint someone like Smith is murky at best.
A Special Counsel must be an independent figure that the U.S. government brings in to aid in an investigation. Trump’s legal team is questioning whether a Special Counsel is deemed a principal officer of the United States, meaning they must be nominated first by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
Smith was neither nominated by President Biden nor confirmed by the Senate. He received the job after Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed him, but Smith didn’t work for the DOJ at the time. I believe this will be the point of emphasis today in the hearing.
We will keep you updated on further developments and how the fallout will affect the 2024 presidential election. Will the issue of Special Counsels crop up in the presidential debate on Thursday? It could be too heady a topic of discussion for the general public.
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