Is former President Trump facing trial in the document scandal? Special investigator Smith is now pushing for the case to be reopened. Doubts about his appointment led to the case being dropped – but he is fighting against this.
US special investigator Jack Smith has asked an appeals court to reopen the criminal proceedings against former President Donald Trump in the document scandal. The judge in charge, Aileen Cannon, had discontinued the proceedings in mid-July. She justified this with doubts about the legality of the special investigator's appointment. Smith appealed against this – and has now justified his step in an appeal letter.
It states that the judge's decision is “contrary to the widespread and long-standing practice of appointing” special investigators. It also contradicts the clear case law that the Attorney General has the authority to appoint a special investigator. The appeals court must therefore overturn the judge's ruling, Smith demanded.
Attorney General Merrick Garland had appointed the 55-year-old to lead the investigation into this and another case.
FBI searched Trump's villa in Florida
Trump was indicted at the federal level in the document scandal last year in Miami, Florida. He is accused of illegally retaining highly sensitive information from his time as president (2017 to 2021).
In August 2022, the FBI searched Trump's villa in Florida and seized several sets of documents classified as top secret. Trump is also accused of conspiracy to obstruct the investigation: he is said to have tried to use employees to make material from surveillance cameras disappear and to have boxes of documents removed.
Trial before election practically impossible
A successful appeal could lead to the case being reopened, but even then it is considered virtually impossible for the case to go to trial before the presidential election in November.
Judge Cannon, who is responsible for the document proceedings, was once appointed by Trump. Critics accused her of dragging out the proceedings.
