Legal experts call Judge Aileen Cannon's dismissal of Donald Trump's classified documents case a "bad ruling from a bad judge" — but say it will likely stand, according to a new report.
New York attorney Colleen Kerwick outlined three serious hurdles Special Counsel Jack Smith faces as he challenges Cannon's dismissal of his Florida federal court case at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, Newsweek reported Monday.
The first, according to Kerwick, is that Cannon was technically correct in ruling the legitimacy of special counsels has yet to be codified.
"No statute vests the attorney general with authority to appoint a special counsel like Smith," said Kerwick. "While there may have been special counsels similar to Smith before, their legitimacy was assumed versus decided."
Second, Smith must prove to the appeals court that the Trump-appointed judge abused her power or made a legal mistake — neither of which is a simple task, Kerwick told Newsweek.
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"Smith will have to show that Judge Cannon abused her discretion or erred as a matter of law," Kerwick said.
Finally, even if the Circuit court rules in Smith's favor, Trump will be able to appeal to a court that issued a potentially critical blow to another of Smith's cases against the former president — the stalled election interference trial in Washington federal court.
"If Smith prevails before the 11th Circuit, who have reversed Judge Cannon in this case before," Kerwick said, "Trump is likely to take this novel issue up to the Supreme Court."
Before Cannon dismissed the case on July 15, Trump stood accused of mishandling top secret information seized from his Palm Beach social club Mar-a-Lago and of obstructing efforts to retrieve them.
Trump pleaded not guilty and accused Smith of mounting a political witch hunt.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, told Newsweek Cannon's decision to toss the case left him "stunned."
"Unfortunately, this seems to be another bad ruling by a bad judge," Rahmani said, "and I wouldn't be surprised if her order is overturned by the 11th Circuit."
