Lawyers for former President Donald Trump filed a motion Thursday to dismiss special counsel Jack Smith’s election interference case, arguing that Smith was illegally appointed and should no longer receive public funds, according to court filings.
The election interference case between Trump and Smith has escalated over the past month, with Judge Tanya Chutkan releasing a redacted version of Smith’s 165-page brief on Oct. 2, detailing the case’s evidence. Trump’s legal team now claims that the “unjust case” violates the “Constitution’s Appointments and Appropriations Clauses” due to Smith not being properly appointed “by law.”
“Even if Smith is a valid officer, which he is not, he is a principal rather than an inferior officer and his appointment is plainly unconstitutional because he was never nominated by the President or confirmed by the Senate. This conclusion follows from the lack of effective oversight over Smith, coupled with the extremely broad jurisdiction described in the appointment order,” the filing states. “In addition, unless and until he is removed, the duration of Smith’s tenure is governed by his subjective determination of when his so-called “work” is “concluded.” These features of Smith’s role also violate the Appointments Clause.”
In November 2022, Attorney General Merick Garland named Smith to oversee the case involving the former president, which his lawyer’s claim violated the appointments clause, according to the filing. They argue Smith, as a “private-citizen,” was appointed to “target President Trump, while President Trump was campaigning to take back the Oval Office from the Attorney General’s boss, without a statutory basis for doing so.”
On July 15, Judge Aileen Cannon, who oversaw Jack Smith’s second case against former President Trump regarding mishandling classified documents, granted a motion by Trump’s lawyers to dismiss the case on the grounds that Smith’s appointment as special prosecutor was unlawful. In support of their motion, Trump’s filing also cited U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ written opinion on presidential immunity, in which he noted, “there are serious questions whether the Attorney General has violated [our Constitutional] structure by creating an office of the Special Counsel that has not been established by law.”
Trump’s lawyer referred to President Joe Biden’s recent remarks at New Hampshire’s Democratic National Committee office this week, where Biden called to “lock up” Trump before quickly clarifying he meant “politically lock him up.”
The legal team also called for Smith and his office to be cut off from “spending additional public funds,” claiming they violated the appropriations clause, which “does not apply in order to take more than $20 million from taxpayers—in addition to Smith improperly relying on more than $16 million in additional funds from other unspecified ‘DOJ components’—for use in wrongfully targeting President Trump and his allies during the height of the campaign season.”
Trump’s team asserts that Smith and his office have been “drawing funds from the Treasury without authorization by statute” and “spending money in violation” of the law.
During a Thursday interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, Trump said he would fire Smith within “two seconds” if he wins the 2024 election, calling him a “crooked person.”
Trump’s lawyers had argued against releasing Smith’s new briefing on presidential immunity, however, Chutkan denied the request and released the remaining evidence. In an Oct. 18 written response Chutkan stated that withholding the special counsel’s evidence would amount to “election interference.”
Featured Image Credit: Tia Dufour; Official White House Photo
