CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said on Monday that it’s conceivable the Supreme Court will uphold Judge Aileen Cannon’s dismissal of former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case.
Cannon agreed to toss the case based on Trump’s assertion that special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment was unlawful, writing that it breaches the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution. Host Jim Acosta asked Honig on “CNN Newsroom” whether an appeal to the Supreme Court could result in agreement with Cannon, to which the senior legal analyst said it is “very possible.” (RELATED: ‘Misled The Judge’: Gregg Jarrett Says Jack Smith Got Caught ‘Manipulating Evidence’ Against Trump)
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Elie Honig Says It’s ‘Very Possible’ Supreme Court Will Uphold Judge Tossing Trump Classified Docs Case pic.twitter.com/TeCDZSXOC4
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 15, 2024
“We know there’s one vote there already. Justice Thomas went out of his way to say this in the immunity ruling. But look, this Supreme Court has been very careful about executive power and about congressional power,” Honig continued. “And it wouldn’t shock me if this Supreme Court says, in the absence of a specific statute passed by Congress, you can’t have special counsel appointed in this manner. I mean, the Supreme Court, other than Justice Thomas’ concurrence really has not given us any indication of which way they may come out. And again, it‘s worth noting the up until now, every federal judge who’s considered this issue has rejected it.”
“Judge Cannon is the first one who‘s accepted the argument. That doesn’t necessarily mean she‘s wrong. And I think you‘re right, Jim, to note that this has been a conservative Supreme Court, a Supreme Court that has sort of required very specific authorization from Congress in order to enable action by the executive branch. And so it would not at all shock me if the Supreme Court ends up siding with Judge Cannon here,” he said.
Justice Clarence Thomas questioned the constitutionality of Smith’s appointment in his concurring opinion in the Supreme Court’s recent presidential immunity ruling, writing that it “may violate our constitutional structure.”
Smith indicted Trump in June 2023 on charges pertaining to his handling of classified documents and the former president faced 41 felony counts. His attorneys filed their motion to toss the case in February.
“Upon careful study of the foundational challenges raised in the Motion, the Court is convinced that Special Counsel’s Smith’s prosecution of this action breaches two structural cornerstones of our constitutional scheme—the role of Congress in the appointment of constitutional officers, and the role of Congress in authorizing expenditures by law,” Cannon wrote in the ruling.
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