WASHINGTON — U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith has asked a federal appeals court to reverse the dismissal of a case alleging former President Donald Trump mishandled classified documents at his Florida home after he left the Oval Office.

The appeals process could take months, likely closing the door on any movement in the classified documents case against Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, before November’s election.

Smith argued late Monday that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to toss the case was based on a “flawed” argument that Smith was illegally appointed to the office of special counsel.

Over an 81-page brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Smith cited statutes and a Watergate-era Supreme Court decision to argue the time-tested legality of U.S. attorneys general to appoint and fund independent, or special, counsels.

Federal judge dismisses Trump classified documents criminal case

“In ruling otherwise, the district court deviated from binding Supreme Court precedent, misconstrued the statutes that authorized the Special Counsel’s appointment, and took inadequate account of the longstanding history of Attorney General appointments of special counsels,” Smith wrote.

Further, he warned, “[t]he district court’s rationale could jeopardize the longstanding operation of the Justice Department and call into question hundreds of appointments throughout the Executive Branch.”

Cannon, a federal judge for the Southern District of Florida, dismissed the classified documents case against Trump on July 15 — two days after Trump was injured in an attempted assassination in Pennsylvania and just as the Republican National Convention kicked off in Wisconsin.

Cannon is a Trump appointee who was nominated in 2020 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate later that year.

Trump had argued for the case’s dismissal in February.

Days before he was set to officially accept the party’s nomination for president, Trump hailed Cannon’s dismissal as a way to unite the nation following the attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Cannon argued Smith’s appointment violated two clauses of the U.S. Constitution that govern how presidential administrations and Congress appoint and approve “Officers of the United States,” and how taxpayer money can be used to pay their salaries and other expenses.

Smith appealed her decision just days later.

Historic classified documents case

Smith’s historic case against Trump marked the first time a former U.S. president faced federal criminal charges.

A grand jury handed up a 37-count indictment in June 2023 charging the former president, along with his aide Walt Nauta, with felonies related to mishandling classified documents after Trump’s term in office, including storing them at his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate. A superseding indictment that added charges and another co-defendant was handed up a little over a month later.

The classified documents case is just one of several legal entanglements for Trump, who became a convicted felon in New York state court in May.

The former president also continues to face federal criminal charges for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. That case has also been in a holding pattern for several months as Trump appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the charges should be dropped based on presidential criminal immunity.

The Supreme Court ruled in early July that the former presidents enjoy immunity for official “core Constitutional” acts and returned the case to the federal trial court in Washington, D.C.

Smith has until the end of August to assess how the immunity decision affects the election subversion case against Trump. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Sept. 5.

RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – South Dakota Mines is making it a priority to take care of their student veterans.

The school held a ceremony Monday to unveil its newly renovated Rich and Trudy Wells Veterans Resource Center.

The renovations are part of the Surbeck Center’s expansion project, providing students access to needed facilities and resources.

Trudy and Rich Wells made a generous donation of $1 million towards the center.

The center will serve as a resource for veterans who will have access to math and writing tutoring, help in writing cover letters, and resumes and scholarship search assistance.

”Veterans have a unique experience, and this will provide a place for them to get together with, you know, with people that kind of understand what they’re going through and have been through,” said the Director of the Veteran Resources Center for the South Dakota School of Mines Derek Flom.

Flom added the school is thrilled to open the center right at the start of the 2024-2025 school year.

Deanna Lien also donated to help with facility upgrades.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Copyright 2024 KOTA. All rights reserved.

The South Dakota 911 Coordination Board commissioned a study Monday into the feasibility of consolidation among the 32 separately managed dispatch centers in the state. 

Some state senators pressed the issue of consolidation during the 2024 legislative session, hoping to encourage regionalization in exchange for an increase in the phone-customer surcharge that funds 911 operations. The Legislature and Gov. Kristi Noem approved a 911 surcharge increase of 75 cents, from $1.25 to $2, with a 2026 sunset clause in order to review the increase.

The projected annual revenue from the $2 per line monthly surcharge is about $19.95 million, which public safety officials said was needed to sustain adequate 911 responses statewide. The surcharge is collected by phone companies, which then give the revenue to the state, which keeps some to fund its statewide 911 coordination efforts and gives the rest to local governments for their 911 call centers. 

The study will be conducted by 911 Authority, which has worked with the state for years on South Dakota’s “Next Generation 911” system, which is meant to keep redundancies in place in case 911 systems are disrupted. 911 outages have happened twice in 2024.

Jim Lockard, senior project consultant for 911 Authority, told 911 board members the study would be completed by the end of this year. The company will charge the state $70,000 for the study, according to a written proposal.

The study will analyze call data and volume, technology use, staffing and facility needs, as well as costs. Lockard said 911 Authority would suggest another model to increase efficiency if its findings suggest consolidation is not the best option.

“Some could be factors for consolidation, some could be reasons not to consolidate,” Lockard said. “Sitting here today, I can’t tell you that it’s going to be a necessary and a good thing for South Dakota.”

Board member Duane Sutton, a Brown County commissioner, said the study would be a “valuable tool” when presenting needs and proposing legislation to make the $2 surcharge permanent next session.

House Speaker Hugh Bartels, R-Watertown, introduced the surcharge legislation last winter.

“I think this study might help,” Bartels said. “I think there are some areas of the state that should consolidate.”

While some dispatch centers cover several counties (Bartels’ local dispatch center in Watertown spans five counties), some dispatch centers cover one county.

Although the 911 board authorized the study, the board does not have the authority to consolidate dispatch centers. That’ll likely take legislative action, said Bartels, who is not seeking reelection in November.