The judge who threw out Donald Trump's classified documents case will be removed from the proceedings following her latest ruling, a legal expert has said.
Ben Meiselas, an attorney and frequent Trump critic, lashed out at what he called the "horrific" decision from Judge Aileen Cannon to dismiss the federal case against the former president over claims special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutionally appointed to the role by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Smith's office said they will be appealing the decision, noting Cannon's ruling "deviates from the uniform conclusion of all previous courts" who said the attorney general is "statutorily authorized" to appoint a special counsel without prior permission from the Senate.
The decision from Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, is the latest in a long line of rulings that have benefited the former president in the classified documents case. This includes allegations that she has slow-walked a number of decisions which should have immediately been dismissed in order to help delay the start of the trial until after November's election.
Speaking on The MeidasTouch Podcast, which he hosts, Meiselas said Smith will be successful in his appeal against Cannon's ruling, and that the judge will ultimately be thrown off the case.
"Special counsels have been used over and over again in Republican and Democratic administrations. There was a special counsel used in the prosecution of Hunter Biden, for example," Meiselas said.
"But Judge Cannon says she's just confining her order to Donald Trump, so special counsels are only unlawful in her mind when it comes to Donald Trump. And while of course, that's not a good headline, or it's a horrific decision, it will finally allow Jack Smith to appeal to the 11th circuit. He's no doubt going to ask for Judge Canon to be removed from the case.
"Ultimately, I think the 11th circuit not only will overturn what Judge Cannon did, I think they're going to remove her from the case."
Meiselas said that Smith will also file a "detailed motion" to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit citing "all of her behavior" while ruling over the classified documents case in order to have Cannon removed from the case.
Newsweek has contacted Cannon's office for comment via email.
In her Monday ruling, Cannon said that Smith's appointment breaches "two structural cornerstones of our constitutional scheme—the role of Congress in the appointment of constitutional officers, and the role of Congress in authorizing expenditures by law."
Garland cited a law which grants him the authority to appoint officials to investigate matters without Senate approval when he appointed Smith in November 2022.
Former Republican Attorney General Bill Barr cited the same law when he appointed Special Counsel John Durham to investigate the origins of an FBI inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 United States election.
In a statement after Cannon's ruling, Peter Carr, a spokesperson for Smith, said: "The dismissal of the case deviates from the uniform conclusion of all previous courts to have considered the issue that the Attorney General is statutorily authorized to appoint a special counsel.
"The Justice Department has authorized the special counsel to appeal the court's order."
Christopher Kise, an attorney for Trump, praised Cannon as having "restored the rule of law and made the right call for America" after dismissing the classified documents case.
"From the outset, the Attorney General and special counsel have ignored critical constitutional restrictions on the exercise of the prosecutorial power of the United States," Kise said.
A number of other legal experts condemned Cannon for her decision to toss out the classified documents against Trump case over the appointment of Smith.
"The fix is in. As I pointed out here over a year ago, Judge Cannon should have been booted off this case at the outset," Richard Painter, who previously served as the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 40 charges over allegations he illegally retained classified materials after he left office in January 2021, then obstructed the federal attempt to retrieve them.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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