Special counsel Jack Smith on Friday urged Judge Eileen Cannon not to apply Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ recent opinion on presidential immunity to former President Trump’s classified documents case.
Smith agreed on Friday. Filing A briefing will be held on the Supreme Court’s decision granting the President of the United States broad immunity from prosecution for acts performed in official capacity.
Smith asked that Thomas’ concurring opinion not be considered in the ruling, as Trump and his legal team had asked Cannon to do.
The former president’s team filed a motion to stay the classified documents lawsuit just days after the immunity decision was handed down, sticking with Thomas’ opinion questioning whether Smith was lawfully appointed.
“If this unprecedented prosecution is to proceed, it must be conducted by someone duly authorized by the American people. Accordingly, the lower courts should answer these important questions about the appointment of a special counsel before proceeding,” Thomas wrote.
The next day, Judge Cannon granted President Trump’s request to extend some deadlines in the case so that the Supreme Court’s decision could be evaluated.
Smith said in his Friday filing that Thomas’ objections are unrelated to the current case before the court and that the Trump campaign itself had not initially raised them.
The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision overturned parts of Smith’s indictment against Trump, but Smith argued that the immunity decision does not affect the classified documents case because he is not charging Trump with his official duties as president.
Cannon, a Trump appointee, has faced criticism for indefinitely postponing the start of the trial, saying he needed more time to consider pretrial motions filed by the Trump campaign seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed. A date for the trial has yet to be set.
