Jack Smith’s Final Showdown With Aileen Cannon? (2024)

Donald Trump has been convicted of 34 felony counts in the New York hush money case—but there’s a lengthy appeals process ahead. And what ever happened to the other three cases against him—Jack Smith’s federal election interference and classified documents cases, and Fani Willis’ Georgia election interference case? All three have hit various roadblocks. To make it easier to follow all of Trump’s ongoing legal entanglements, each Monday, we’ll keep you updated on the latest developments in Keeping Up With the Trump Trials.

Special counsel Jack Smith is hoping to save his second criminal indictment of Donald Trump, filing a notice of appeal with Judge Aileen Cannon that seeks to undo her dismissal of the classified documents case. And down in Georgia, an appeals court finally scheduled oral arguments in Trump’s appeal of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ role as lead prosecutor in her criminal election interference indictment—for after the November election.

Jack Smith Officially Appeals the Dismissal of Classified Documents Indictment

The special counsel is ready to argue that Judge Aileen Cannon’s order dismissing the federal classified documents case was the wrong call, filing a notice of appeal last week that is the first step in what’s expected to be another high-stakes legal battle for Smith.

Exactly one week ago, Cannon—who was appointed by Trump— published a bombshell order that said Smith was improperly appointed as special counsel by the attorney general, and therefore he cannot legally continue with his prosecution of Trump. The decision immediately halted the classified documents case, and now Smith intends to appeal Cannon’s decision, which will be heard by the U.S.Court of Appeals for the 11^th Circuit.

It’s not clear how Smith will frame his argument, but some legal experts believe the appeals court will reverse Cannon’s decision. And if that court does end up ruling in Smith’s favor, Trump could then appeal its decision and the case could go up to the Supreme Court—which also recently ruled on Smith’s election interference indictment, giving Trump wide-ranging presidential immunity from criminal prosecution. (Immunity shouldn’t be an issue here, given that the alleged criminal conduct took place after he left the White House.) Cannon leaned on Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion in that immunity decision, which questioned the lawfulness of the special counsel, but notably was not joined by any other justices.

For the past two years, while Cannon has overseen the classified documents case, her decisions have been overwhelmingly sympathetic to the former president’s defense. Starting with the FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago, she ordered a special master to review all of the material seized first, prohibiting the federal government from accessing any of it for the purposes of its criminal investigation. The same 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals wholly rejected that decision, ruling that Cannon had no jurisdiction in blocking the U.S. government’s investigation and ordered that the special master be immediately dismissed.

Georgia Appeals Court Will Consider Trump’s Case After the November Election

District Attorney Fani Willis’ election interference indictment has been tied up in appeals for months, with Trump’s defense team filing an appeal to get Willis kicked off the case entirely and Willis appealing a judge’s decision to throw out some of the charges she brought against Trump. All of this made it all but certain Trump would not face a jury trial in Georgia before the November election, and last week the Georgia Court of Appeals made it official by scheduling arguments for Trump’s appeal on Dec. 5.

The appeals started after Willis was accused of misconduct when she hired special prosecutor Nathan Wade to work on her investigation into Trump and 18 others, then began dating Wade. After a long and contentious evidentiary hearing into the matter earlier this year, Judge Scott McAfee ruled Willis could stay on the case, so long as Wade resigned from his role, which he did. However, in his decision, McAfee knocked Willis and said there was still “an odor of mendacity”that created an “appearance of impropriety.”

A three-judge panel will hear Trump’s appeal of McAfee’s decision and is expected to issue a decision by March 2025. And once the case is back in the hands of McAfee, he will have to consider the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision and whether Trump’s attempts to influence fake electors in Georgia during the aftermath of the 2020 election are “official” acts, protected from criminal prosecution. And if Trump wins the November election, this is the one remaining case against him that he will be unable to dismiss.