Special counsel Jack Smith is poised to win his appeal to overturn a controversial ruling that dismissed former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, according to a former federal prosecutor. On Monday, Elie Honig shared his insights with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, discussing the appeal Smith filed with the 11th Circuit to reverse District Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision.
Trump’s legal team had argued that the case should be dismissed on the grounds that Congress must pass a specific law to establish the special counsel position. However, Smith’s appeal, as Honig explained, makes a compelling counterargument.
“But what Jack Smith argues, I think quite persuasively in his brief is, there are four different laws where Congress says, well, the attorney general has very broad powers to delegate his authority to enlist other prosecutors and FBI agents to do the work that he needs to be done, and I think that’s a powerful argument,” Honig stated.
Honig also pointed out that Trump’s argument has been unsuccessfully used in several other special counsel cases, including those involving Robert Mueller and Hunter Biden. “Judge Cannon’s the only one” to find any merit in it, he added. When Cooper asked whether Smith could seek to have Judge Cannon removed if the ruling is overturned, Honig clarified that while Smith did not request her removal in his brief, it is not entirely off the table.
“It’s very rare for federal prosecutors to ask for something that drastic,” Honig explained. “That said, sometimes courts of appeals will remove a district court judge on their own. It’s extraordinarily rare. But if they reversed Judge Cannon here, that’ll be twice … that is a whole new playground there, that is something that very rarely happens. So if they reverse her again, it’s possible, in my mind, they remove her as well.”
Cooper pressed on the potential consequences for Judge Cannon’s career if she were removed from the case. “That would be, I’d imagine, not great for her career,” he remarked. “Oh, my gosh. It would be humiliating for her,” Honig agreed. “When it happens, it is a mark that stays with that judge for a long time. The federal appeals courts are extremely reluctant to remove a district judge.
They only do it where they feel like that judge cannot fairly continue on the case.” As the legal battle unfolds, Smith’s appeal appears to be on strong footing, potentially leading to significant implications not only for the case but also for Judge Cannon’s judicial career.