Special prosecutor Jack Smith has asked a US federal appeals court to overturn the judge's decision to drop the case against former President Donald Trump for withholding classified documents after he left the White House.
Even if the appeals court rules in favour of the prosecutor, the trial against the presidential candidate of the Republican Party is unlikely to take place before the elections on November 5, AFP reported.
In his written arguments, Jack Smith criticized Florida Judge Eileen Cannon for getting it wrong on all counts when she ruled on July 15 that appointing him as special prosecutor in the case and funding his work violated sections of the Constitution dealing with appointments and costs.
In making this decision, she "departed from authoritative Supreme Court case law, misinterpreted the laws authorizing the appointment of a special prosecutor and failed to take sufficient account of the long-standing tradition of the appointment of special prosecutors by ministers of justice." he stated.
"His reasoning could threaten the established functioning of the Justice Department and call into question hundreds of executive branch appointments," including in defence, diplomacy and the Treasury, Jack Smith added.
The defence now has thirty days to respond, after which the special prosecutor will have three weeks to formulate a counterargument.
In that case, one of four criminal proceedings against Donald Trump, he is accused of endangering national security by keeping these documents, including military plans and nuclear weapons information, at his private residence after the end of his presidency instead of turning them over to the National Archives as required by law.
He is also accused of attempting to destroy evidence. The most serious charges carried a sentence of 10 years in prison.
Without ruling on the merits of the case, Justice Cannon referred specifically to the position expressed by conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in the nation's highest court's landmark July 1 decision, in which the President of the United States broad criminal immunity is granted.
In a separate opinion, Judge Thomas challenged the legality of Mr Smith's appointment in another case - the federal proceedings against Donald Trump for attempting to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 election | BGNES
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