On Wednesday, special counsel Jack Smith requested the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to pause the proceedings in an appeal related to President-elect Trump’s Florida documents case. This filing follows the court’s task of reviewing a lower court decision made by Judge Aileen Cannon, who had ruled that Smith’s appointment was unlawful.
In a request similar to one previously filed regarding Trump’s election interference case, Smith’s legal team argued that pausing the case would provide “the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.” Smith’s team also stated they would provide an update to the court on December 2.
Jack Smith seeks a pause in the Florida documents case, awaiting a key court review on Trump’s legal battles
The development marks a likely conclusion to an appeal that legal experts had thought Smith had a strong chance of winning, especially after Cannon dismissed the case. Cannon’s ruling contradicted decades of court precedent on special counsel appointments, including a key decision in the Supreme Court case concerning former President Nixon.
Previously, the 11th Circuit reversed another of Cannon’s rulings, ending the special master review of the classified documents seized from Trump’s Florida estate. Had Smith won the appeal, the case would have been sent back to Cannon for further proceedings related to Espionage Act and obstruction of justice charges against Trump, stemming from his refusal to return classified records. However, Trump’s electoral victory complicates both of these cases.
This filing follows reports that Smith plans to resign before Trump’s inauguration, after which the president-elect indicated he intended to remove Smith from his position “within two seconds.”
A 1973 memo from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel outlines that sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted, asserting that such actions would undermine the executive branch’s ability to perform its constitutional duties. Smith still has options to conclude his cases, including issuing a report on his findings, which Attorney General Merrick Garland could choose to release to the public.
