Smith pleads with Trump judge to ignore recent Supreme Court opinion on immunity
By
Anna Giaritelli
July 13, 2024 10:30 am
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Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed to investigate former President Donald Trump, asked Judge Aileen Cannon not to allow Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s opinion to be applied to the classified document case.
Smith agreed on Friday to hold a briefing about how the highest court ruling would affect the case going forward. The ruling upheld broad immunity for presidents facing prosecution for actions taken while in office, according to a document filed by the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Florida.
But Smith petitioned Cannon, a Trump appointee, not to consider Thomas’s opinion in her ruling.
The Trump legal team has asked Cannon to keep the Supreme Court’s decision front of mind. The Trump camp filed a motion to halt the classified documents case following the Supreme Court immunity decision.
Thomas wrote in his concurring decision that if the “unprecedented prosecution is to proceed, it must be conducted by someone duly authorized to do so by the American people. The lower courts should thus answer these essential questions concerning the Special Counsel’s appointment before proceeding.”
Cannon has approved the Trump team’s request to postpone several deadlines in the immunity case until the Supreme Court ruling could be evaluated as to how it would affect the other case.
Smith maintained in his filing Friday that Thomas’s claims were not applicable to the case.
The Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling earlier this summer broke up some of the Smith indictments against Trump.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/3080845/smith-trump-judge-ignore-supreme-court-opinion-immunity/
