Washington [US], August 27: Mr Trump is accused of unsafely keeping classified documents , including files from the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida and obstructing efforts to retrieve them after leaving office.
Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed the case last month on the grounds that special prosecutor Jack Smith was illegally appointed.
Mr. Smith was appointed as special prosecutor by US Attorney General Merrick Garland. Judge Cannon said that President Joe Biden's administration had usurped congressional appointment authority.
According to AFP, Mr. Smith appealed Ms. Cannon's decision to the Court of Appeals and filed a lawsuit on August 26. In his 60-page brief, Mr. Smith said there was a "long tradition of appointing special prosecutors " by previous attorneys general and that Congress had endorsed this practice.
"The district court's contrary view is inconsistent with an uninterrupted decision-making process. and it is contrary to long-standing and widespread appointment practices within the Justice Department and across government," Smith said.
"The district court's reasoning would also raise questions about hundreds of appointments across the executive branch, including the Departments of Defense , State, Treasury, and Labor ," he added.
In the documents case, Mr. Trump faces 31 counts of "willful withholding of national defense information ," each of which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. He also faces charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and perjury.
The appeals court's timeline suggests the chances of the case being resolved before the November presidential election, in which Mr Trump is the Republican nominee, are slim.
Mr Trump's lawyers now have 30 days to respond to Mr Smith's motion. Mr Smith then has 21 days to file a response to the former president's response.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
