Special investigator calls for reopening of Trump documents case

Special Advisor Michael B. asked a federal appeals court to reopen the case against the former president Donald Trumpand thereby challenged a controversial decision of the judge. Aileen Cannon which denied the allegations.

In a brief, Smith's team called the ruling “nonsensical” and pointed to longstanding precedents that directly contradicted the judge's conclusion.

Judge Cannon, who was appointed by Trump in 2020, had previously argued that the special counsel's office was created illegally and effectively shut down the prosecution in a surprise ruling. Smith's office responded Monday with an appeal to a Florida court, claiming Cannon's decision would jeopardize “hundreds” of similarly created offices across the federal government.

“The district court's contrary opinion is at odds with otherwise consistent case law, including that of the Supreme Court,” Smith's team argued, stressing that the reasoning behind the ruling deviated from “binding Supreme Court precedents” and represented a misinterpretation of the laws authorizing the special counsel's appointment.

Despite the controversy, Smith's team has not yet attempted to exclude Cannon from the case.

The case, which marks the first federal court prosecution of a former president, centers on allegations that Trump withheld hundreds of classified documents after leaving the White House and stored them at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Cannon's 93-page order did not address the facts or evidence against Trump, but focused on the legality of the special counsel's office itself.

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