DOJ appeals Trump classified documents case dismissal

The Biden administration on Monday argued that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland had the authority to appoint Jack Smith as the Department of Justice’s special counsel. The DOJ is asking the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon’s July 15 ruling dismissing felony charges against former President Donald Trump. The DOJ charged Trump last year with allegedly mishandling classified documents from his time in office. Trump has repeatedly denied those allegations.

Trump didn’t immediately respond to the DOJ’s court filing on his campaign website or social media platform. In July, he celebrated Cannon’s decision to dismiss the charges.

How does Garland’s authority to appoint special counsels play into this? In late 2022, Garland appointed Smith as special counsel and gave him the job of handling the DOJ’s cases against former President Donald Trump. The former president’s attorneys argued that Garland did not have the statutory authority to appoint Smith, and Judge Cannon agreed. She dismissed the DOJ’s charges against Trump, finding that Garland needed Congressional approval to appoint Smith.

What is the Justice Department arguing in its appeal? Every other federal court presented with presented with the issue of special counsel appointments has disagreed with Cannon’s analysis, the DOJ argued. The U.S. Supreme Court has even recognized that U.S. attorneys general have broad liberty to restructure federal agencies as they see fit, the department said. The DOJ also cited four laws conferring on the attorney general the ability to appoint special counsels as he sees fit and staff federal law enforcement offices as he sees fit.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report in The Stew about the meaning of “MAGA,” and whether it’s a Trump-centered movement or something larger than him.