U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon will hold a hearing Friday on former President Donald Trump’s motion to dismiss the classified documents charge against him on the grounds that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional.
Trump’s lawyers filed a motion in February, alleging that the Constitution’s Appointments Clause “does not permit the Attorney General to appoint, without Senate confirmation, a like-minded private citizen and political ally to exercise the prosecutorial power of U.S. As such, Jack Smith does not have the authority to prosecute this action.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith as special counsel in November 2022, tasking him with overseeing federal investigations into Trump’s handling of classified documents after he was president, as well as his efforts to overturn the presidential election results of 2020.
Trump’s lawyers wrote that “because neither the Constitution nor Congress created the position of ‘Special Counsel,’ Smith’s appointment is invalid.”
They also argued that funding Smith’s investigation violates the Constitution’s appropriations clause.
“President Biden’s DOJ is paying for this politically motivated prosecution of Biden’s main political rival ‘off the books,’ without accountability or authorization,” the motion said. “Instead of funding the Office of Special Counsel through the regular budget process, Jack Smith relies on a permanent, indefinite appropriation that, by its terms and under the Reno Regulations, is not available to the Special Counsel. Thus, funding of Smith violates the Appropriations Clause.”
Consequently, the court should dismiss the superseding indictment against him and the other two defendants in the case, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, they said.
In response, the special counsel’s team argued that the attorney general has the legal authority to appoint “inferior officers” and that previous court decisions have affirmed the attorney general’s authority to appoint special counsels.
Arguments from Trump’s legal team have been unsuccessfully raised against previous special counsels, including Robert Mueller and David Weiss.
Outside parties will also be able to present arguments in the Florida courtroom for up to 30 minutes on Friday, with the Trump and special counsel teams each having the opportunity to rebut as needed. Three groups submitted petitions and received permission to present them.
Friday’s court proceeding is one of three consecutive hearings Cannon is holding, with the others scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
A previous trial date was canceled in the case and no future date has been set. The hearing comes just weeks after Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, which was the first time a former president was convicted of a crime.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
