A judge appointed by Trump had dropped the case against the former president in the document scandal – but the Justice Department's special investigator now wants to appeal against this.
Special investigator Jack Smith wants to appeal against the discontinuation of proceedings in the document scandal against former US President Donald Trump. The Justice Department has authorized Smith to appeal against the decision, said Smith's spokesman Peter Carr. According to US media reports, he said the discontinuation of proceedings deviates from the opinion of all courts that have so far dealt with the legal appointment of a special investigator.
Judge was appointed by Trump
Federal judge Aileen Cannon, appointed by Trump himself, had previously closed the proceedings against the former president in his document scandal. She justified her decision by saying that the Justice Department had violated the Constitution by appointing a special investigator to investigate the case. She thereby granted a request from Trump's lawyers.
They had argued that Smith had been illegally appointed by the US Department of Justice and that his appointment had not been confirmed by the US Congress. Smith's office had also been illegally funded by the Department of Justice.
Proceedings could be resumed
The Smith camp denied the allegations at a hearing before Cannon in June, arguing that even if they ruled in favor of the defense's motion, it would not be right to dismiss the entire case. The Smith camp also pointed out that other courts had rejected arguments like those used by the Trump defense in other cases involving Justice Department special counsels.
A successful appeal could lead to the case being reopened, but even then, observers say it would be virtually impossible for the trial to take place before the presidential election in November.
Plans for nuclear weapons kept in private villa
After leaving office in January 2021, the former president stored secret government documents in his private residence Mar-a-Lago in Florida and, according to the indictment, later hid them from the justice system. The documents contained, among other things, information about military plans and nuclear weapons.
They are said to have been stored unsecured in Mar-a-Lago. US presidents are required to hand over all official documents to the National Archives after leaving office.
