Month: August 2024

Special counsel Jack Smith urged an appeals court Monday to reverse a federal judge’s surprise dismissal of former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case, writing the lower court’s decision to toss the charges “deviated” from legal precedent and “took inadequate account” of history.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon last month threw out the case against Trump, aide Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira that charged them with unlawfully retaining classified documents taken from his time in the White House and then seeking to obstruct the government’s efforts to retrieve them. Cannon found that Smith’s appointment as special counsel violated the Constitution’s Appointments Clause, dismissing the indictment against Trump. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Assistant Special Counsel James Pearce, a member of Smith’s team, wrote in a brief filed with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: “The Attorney General validly appointed the Special Counsel, who is also properly funded. 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.” In their filing Monday, Smith said Cannon’s ruling “conflicts with an otherwise unbroken course of decisions, including by the Supreme Court, that the Attorney General has such authority, and it is at odds with widespread and longstanding appointment practices in the Department of Justice and across the government.”  Trump has until Sept. 26 to submit a response to the special counsel’s arguments.

Cannon’s ruling centered around arguments that Smith’s prosecution of Trump was illegitimate because, in her determination, Smith was unlawfully appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to his position as special counsel because he was never confirmed to his post by the U.S. Senate.

Editorial credit: Heidi Besen / Shutterstock.com

On Monday, authorities announced that they are investigating the death of a woman at the counterculture festival known as Burning Man, held annually in northern Nevada’s Black Rock Desert (per The Associated Press.)

Authorities said a woman who attended the Burning Man Festival died on the first day of the event on Sunday. The Pershing County Sheriff’s Office said that Burning Man Project emergency personnel found the woman unresponsive, with emergency crew performed what was described as life-saving measures to revive the woman but were unsuccessful. Sheriff Jerry Allen said (per ABC News): “This death will remain under investigation until a cause and manner can be determined, which will be updated at the conclusion of an autopsy”.  Allen said the woman’s name and age won’t be released until her relatives can be notified.

Burning Man organizers released a statement offering condolences over the death: “Our thoughts and condolences go out to the family and friends affected by this loss. We are cooperating fully with local authorities as they investigate. Out of respect for the privacy of the grieving family, we will not be providing further details at this time.”

Burning Man combines wilderness camping with a weeklong celebration of art; it kicked off early Sunday after the gates had been closed for 12 hours following rain and muddy conditions. An estimated 20,000 people were already on the playa before the gates officially opened to all ticket-holders. The festival runs through Sept. 2, with organizers expecting more than 70,000 people to attend this year’s event.

About a half-dozen other deaths have been reported at the festival since it moved from Baker Beach in San Francisco to the Black Rock desert in 1990.  32-year-old Leon Reece of Truckee, Calif. died from suspected drug intoxication after being found unresponsive on the festival grounds at last year’s Burning Man (per NBC NEWS).

Editorial credit: Danita Delimont / Shutterstock.com