CNN senior legal analyst Ellie Honig said Monday that the Supreme Court is likely to uphold Judge Eileen Cannon's decision to dismiss former President Donald Trump's classified documents lawsuit.
Cannon Agreed President Trump has called for the case to be dismissed, arguing that the appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith was illegal and violated the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Host Jim Acosta asked Honig on “CNN Newsroom” whether an appeal to the Supreme Court could result in a decision agreeing with Cannon, to which the senior legal analyst replied, “That's entirely possible.” (Related: 'He misled the judge': Greg Jarrett claims Jack Smith was caught 'manipulating evidence' against Trump)
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Elie Honig says it's 'highly likely' that Supreme Court will uphold dismissal of Trump documents lawsuit pic.twitter.com/TeCDZSXOC4
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“We know there's one vote already, and Justice Thomas went out of his way to say so in his immunity decision, but the Supreme Court has been very careful about executive and congressional power,” Honig continued. “I wouldn't be surprised if the Court were to decide that a special counsel cannot be appointed in this manner unless Congress passes a specific law. That means the Court has not indicated what it might rule other than Justice Thomas' concurrence. It's also notable that every federal judge who has considered this issue so far has rejected it.”
“Judge Cannon is the first justice to embrace this argument. But that doesn't mean she's wrong. As you point out, Jim, this is a conservative court and this is a court that has required very specific authorization from Congress to allow the executive branch to act. So I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Supreme Court ended up siding with Judge Cannon here,” he said.
In his concurring opinion in the Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity, Justice Clarence Thomas questioned the constitutionality of Smith's appointment, writing that it “may violate the very fabric of our constitutional structure.”
Smith indicted Trump in June 2023 on charges of handling classified documents and relating to the former president. Faced He was indicted on 41 felony charges. motion The lawsuit was dismissed in February.
“After careful consideration of the fundamental issues raised in the motion, the Court is convinced that Special Counsel Smith's prosecution of this case violates two structural foundations of our constitutional system: Congress' role in appointing constitutional offices and Congress' role in authorizing statutory expenditures,” Judge Cannon wrote in his decision.
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