Jack Smith urges judge to reject Trump's bid to dismiss J6 case by challenging appointment

Special counsel Jack Smith on Thursday filed his rebuttal to former President Donald Trump's attempt to dismiss the January 6 case against him by claiming that Smith was unlawfully appointed.

Trump's attorneys filed their motion to dismiss the case last week, arguing that Smith's appointment violated the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution because he was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, instead of being confirmed by the United States Senate. 

Trump's legal team made the same case in the former president's classified documents case in Florida, which was dismissed by Judge Aileen Cannon.

Smith argued on Thursday that Judge Tanya Chutkan should not take up Trump's request, because his team waited too long to make the request, The Hill reported.

“The defendant’s failure both to file a timely challenge to the Special Counsel’s authority to prosecute this case and to establish good cause for his tardy filing should foreclose this Court from reviewing that claim,” Smith’s team wrote. “Nothing in the superseding indictment provided any basis for his motion that did not exist before.”

Smith's team also noted that historical precedent is on his side, because a special counsel has investigated other presidents in the past, including former President Richard Nixon. 

“Contrary to the defendant’s claims, the Supreme Court’s determination in Nixon that the Attorney General had the statutory authority … to appoint the special prosecutor is binding," prosecutors wrote. "Statutory analysis confirms that that determination was correct, and the long history of special counsel appointments reflected the Attorney General’s authority to appoint the Special Counsel here."

Trump is currently facing four charges in D.C., related to his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. 

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.