U.S. Justice Department appeals decision to drop charges against Trump
Kyiv • UNN
The U.S. Justice Department is appealing a decision to drop charges against Trump for withholding classified documents after leaving the White House.
Special Prosecutor Jack Smith will appeal the decision to dismiss the case about the Trump documents. Reports UNN with citing Reuters and Les Échos.
The US Justice Department has authorized a special prosecutor to appeal a federal judge's decision to dismiss charges against former US President Donald Trump for withholding classified documents after leaving the White House.
Context
A U.S. judge in Florida on Monday dismissed a criminal case accusing Donald Trump of illegally possessing classified documents after leaving office, handing the former Republican president another major legal victory as he seeks to return to the White House.
Trump said in a social media post that the decision should be "just the first step" and called for all four criminal cases against him to be dropped.
U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, ruled that Special Prosecutor Jack Smith, the special prosecutor leading the charge, was appointed to his position illegally and did not have the authority to bring the case.
The judge found that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who appointed Smith in 2022 to oversee Trump-related investigations, did not have the authority "to appoint a federal official with the same prosecutorial powers that special prosecutor Smith has." But Smith spokesman Peter Carr said Cannon's decision "deviates from the uniform findings of all previous courts" that have considered the issue. Courts have repeatedly concluded that the attorney general has the authority to appoint special attorneys to conduct certain investigations.
Help
In May, Trump was convicted on New York state charges related to paying money to a porn star to prevent a sex scandal before the 2016 election. Trump pleaded not guilty to the documents and to another Smith case and election-related charges in Georgia state court.
In the documents case, Trump was charged with willfully retaining classified national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving the presidency in 2021 and obstructing government efforts to obtain the material. Prosecutors said the documents concerned U.S. military and intelligence matters, including details about the U.S. nuclear program.
