Special Counsel Jack Smith urged Judge Aileen Cannon on Friday not to apply Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ opinion in the recent presidential immunity ruling in former President Trump’s confidential documents case.
Smith agreed on Friday archiving to hold a briefing on the Supreme Court ruling granting US presidents broad immunity from prosecution for official acts.
Smith asked Cannon not to consider Thomas’s concurring opinion in the ruling, as Trump and his legal team requested she do.
The former president’s team filed a motion to slam on the brakes on the classified documents case days after the immunity ruling was handed down, clinging to Thomas’ opinion questioning whether Smith had been legally appointed.
“For this unprecedented process to proceed, it must be led by someone duly authorized to do so by the American people. The lower courts must therefore answer these essential questions regarding the appointment of the Special Counsel before proceeding,” Thomas wrote.
A day later, Cannon approved Trump’s request to postpone some deadlines in the case so that the Supreme Court’s decision could be evaluated.
Smith said in Friday’s filing that Thomas’ argument against him was not relevant to the current case before the court and that Trump’s own team had not initially raised it.
The Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling dismantles part of Smith’s prosecution of Trump, but Smith argues that the consequences of the immunity ruling do not affect the classified documents case because he did not charge Trump for official acts Trump committed as president.
Cannon, a Trump appointee, faced criticism after indefinitely suspending the trial’s start date, arguing she needed more time to consider pretrial motions filed by Trump’s team asking her to drop the case. The trial date has not yet been set.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
