District court Judge Aileen Cannon pressed Donald Trump's attorney to defend an extraordinary claim about special counsel Jack Smith during a hearing on his appointment to investigate the former president.
Trump's legal team and some political allies are arguing that Smith, who has charged the ex-president in Florida and Washington, D.C., was not lawfully appointed as special counsel, saying his position amounted to a "shadow government," and Cannon asked him to explain, reported CNN.
“That sounds very ominous,” Cannon said to Trump lawyer Emil Bove. “But what do you really mean?”
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Bove did not directly answer the judge's question but repeated his argument that Smith was not lawfully appointed and asked for an additional hearing that would include testimony about the relationship between Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland to determine whether the special counsel was acting independently or under the direction of the official who appointed him.
Cannon noted that Smith must follow Justice Department regulations, but Bove said the special counsel still did not report to anyone.
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Federal prosecutor James Pearce argued that Garland could fire Smith "this very moment" if he wished, but said later that the attorney general did not review all of the special counsel's decisions.
Cannon has scheduled three days of hearings into legal arguments in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, including a request by prosecutors for a gag order against Trump and another challenging whether Smith's work was being lawfully funded.
