A federal appeals court has granted special counsel Jack Smith’s request to pause his appeal in one of the cases involving President-elect Donald Trump.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on Nov. 14 granted Smith’s request to hold the appeal in abeyance until Dec. 2.
The grant was entered by the court’s clerk at the direction of the court.
Smith had filed a motion asking the court to pause the appeal in light of Trump’s election win.
“As a result of the election held on November 5, 2024, one of the defendants in this case, Donald J. Trump, is expected to be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025, and inaugurated on January 20, 2025,” Smith said in the motion.
“The Government respectfully requests that the Court hold this appeal in abeyance—and stay the deadline for the Government’s reply brief, which is currently due on November 15, 2024—until December 2, 2024, to afford the Government time to assess this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward consistent with Department of Justice policy.”
The case involves allegations that Trump mishandled sensitive documents.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon over the summer dismissed the case, finding that Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of Smith violated the U.S. Constitution.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) appealed to the 11th Circuit, arguing that Cannon’s ruling “conflicts with an otherwise unbroken course of decisions, including by the Supreme Court, that the Attorney General has such authority, and it is at odds with widespread and longstanding appointment practices in the Department of Justice and across the government.” The appeals court should reverse the ruling, federal lawyers said.
Shortly before the election, Trump’s team said Cannon’s ruling was correct.
“The Appointments Clause requires that officers be appointed ‘by Law.’ No statute supports Smith’s appointment,” his team said in an Oct. 25 filing.
DOJ lawyers were facing a deadline of Nov. 15 to reply to the Trump brief before they asked for, and received, the pause in the appeal.
The appeals court, in granting the request, did not provide any further comment on the case.
Government lawyers had said that if the appeals court granted the motion, “the Government will inform the Court of the result of its deliberations—and, if appropriate, file its reply brief—no later than December 2, 2024.”
Lawyers for Trump and his co-defendants, former aides Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, did not object to the motion, according to the government.
Smith has already asked for, and received, a pause in the other federal case he was pursuing against Trump.
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