Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed a notice of a plan to appeal Judge Cannon’s dismissal of charges against Donald Trump and others.
“The United States of America hereby gives notice that it appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from the order of the District Court entered on July 15, 2024,” the notice reads.
According to The Hill, “A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office said Monday that Cannon’s ruling “deviates from the uniform conclusion of all previous courts to have considered the issue that the Attorney General is statutorily authorized to appoint a Special Counsel.”
Edit Thursday morning: When I wrote this on Wednesday afternoon, it was not clear as to whether this filing was the actual appeal itself, or simply a notice to the court that he would be appealing to the 11th Circuit. Every story that I read yesterday used the words above, “notice of a plan to appeal,” so that is how I have taken it.
I have not seen anywhere (and I looked hard this morning) to see if Smith’s notice included anything to indicate what he wanted by an appeal: (return the case to the status quo and continue with it; ask for another judge to handle the case; or anything else). I also was not able to track down a link to the filing itself, which would add clarity.
However, some comments below indicate that this was, actually, the formal appeal, so I remain unclear. I would be very happy if any lawyers here could clarify this.