Smith Asked Cannon to Ignore Justice Thomas’ Comments on Special Counsel
Special Counsel Jack Smith was panicking the moment he read Justice Clarence Thomas’ opinion.
He knew it could be a problem, and he wanted to scare Cannon off using it.
Smith’s filing on Friday urged her to disregard his statement when deciding whether the case should continue.
Panic Time
In his opinion on presidential immunity, Thomas wrote, “If this 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.”
Smith argued that Thomas’ comments were irrelevant to the case and that Trump’s legal team had not even mentioned the opinion in its filing.
Cannon did not take Smith’s request and wound up dismissing the case on Monday.
In her ruling, she stated, "Since November 2022, Special Counsel Smith has been exercising 'power that [he] did not lawfully possess.' All actions that flowed from his defective appointment — including his seeking of the Superseding Indictment on which this proceeding currently hinges — were unlawful exercises of executive power.”
If Smith wants to move forward, he will have to appeal her decision, and I have zero doubt the 11th Circuit will take the case.
This, however, means more delays, but as far as Smith is concerned, that would be far better than having the case delayed.
The calls to have Cannon removed from the bench were immediate, with none other than George Conway leading the charge.
He stated, "Apart from whether or not Judge Cannon is trying to help Trump here, this order makes clear beyond peradventure that she has no idea what she's doing even simply as a lawyer.”
Harvard Law professor emeritus Laurence Tribe added, "Judge Cannon clearly cannot be permitted to preside over this case.
"Whether she should be removed from the federal judiciary altogether is another matter. She probably should. Her ruling makes utter nonsense of the Presidential Records Act."
I will be honest… based on legal precedent and previous special counsel appointments, I never thought this would happen.
Cannon may have just handed Democrats the smoking gun they needed to remove her, but I don’t want to jump the gun just yet.
Let’s see what happens during the appeal because this case has been completely unpredictable throughout.
