washington – Lawyers for former President Donald Trump urge federal appeals court to uphold decision Rejection of confidential document case againstHe said a judge was correct in ruling that the prosecutor who brought the charges was unlawfully appointed.

Lawsuit accusing Trump of hoarding classified documents His Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida had long been considered legally dangerous for the Republican White House candidate, but U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon made the move in July after concluding that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith to the post was unlawful. He refused.

The ruling brought an abrupt halt to the case, preventing a hearing from taking place before the presidential election in November. Another lawsuit filed by Smith, this accuses Trump of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election resultsPostponed by Supreme Court decision Granting broad immunity to former presidents.

Smith’s team appeals documents decisionIt echoes the decision made by Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, to go against decades of precedent. Prosecutors say if the decision is allowed to go to the floor, the legality of hundreds of appointments in the Executive Branch would be called into question.

Trump’s team responded with a brief of its own late Friday, telling the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to leave Cannon’s ruling in place.

“Jack Smith’s unlawful crusade against President Trump has no basis and never has. Trump’s lawyers have written for almost two years that Smith operated illegally, supported largely by an unexamined blank check drawn on taxpayer dollars.

They said Smith “operated without the oversight and accountability that are hallmarks of lower-level officers,” whose tenure was largely his own and with authority that exceeded that of presidentially appointed U.S. attorneys.

Cannon, who dismissed the case, argued that no existing law allows an attorney general to appoint a special counsel, but Smith’s team said at least four others do. He also found Smith’s appointment unconstitutional because he Appointed directly by Attorney General Merrick Garland and was not approved by the Senate.

However, other special advisors are also included Robert Mueller During the Trump administration and Robert Hur They were appointed in the same manner as Smith during the Biden administration. Smith’s team noted that courts have rejected challenges to these appointments.

On Thursday, Trump’s lawyers in Washington in his 2020 federal election interference case adopted the same illegal appointment argument as they urged a judge to dismiss that prosecution.