Special counsel Jack Smith on Wednesday asked a federal appellate court to put on hold his appeal in President-elect Donald Trump’s classified documents case, citing the results of the 2024 election.
“As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, Donald J. Trump, one of the defendants in this case, is expected to be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025, and inaugurated on January 20, 2025.” Smith wrote to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“The Government respectfully requests that the Court postpone this appeal – and stay the deadline for the Government’s brief reply, which is currently due on November 15, 2024 – to December 2, 2024, so that the Government can respond to this unprecedented situation.” To get time to assess. and determine the appropriate course moving forward consistent with Department of Justice policy,” the federal prosecutor said.
classified document case was fired in July by Florida federal judge Eileen Cannon, and Smith had sought to appeal her decision.
The special counsel said that if the adjournment is granted, his team will do so Inform the appeals court about your future plans Till 2 December. Smith said he consulted with Trump’s legal team and had “no objection to this request.”
The filing comes after U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan last week froze Smith’s 2020 election interference case against Trump, skipping the court filing deadline following a request by prosecutors.
Multiple reports indicate that the Justice Department intends to drop all pending lawsuits against the 45th President in the wake of his victory on Election Day last week.
The New York Times reported that Smith is struggling to finalize his remaining work so he can retire before Trump takes office in January and is certain to be fired.
The president-elect has promised to remove Smith from office within “two seconds” of being sworn back into the White House on January 20.
Smith, 55, has already informed his team members that they can begin planning his departure in the next few weeks, the outlet said.
Cannon dismissed Smith’s case alleging that Trump improperly stored sensitive White House documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after his presidency, as she concluded that the special counsel Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional.
Smith’s appeal argues that Canon’s decision was “contrary to widespread and long-standing appointment practices at the Department of Justice and across the government.”
The Justice Department has long had a policy of not going after sitting presidents.
(TagstoTranslate)Politics(T)US News(T)Appeals(T)Classified Documents(T)Donald Trump(T)Special Counsel
