(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Former Attorney General Ed Meese and several experts on the Constitution argued that Jack Smith’s appointment as special counsel to investigate former President Donald Trump is unconstitutional.
A recently published amicus brief argued that Smith lacked authority to petition the Supreme Court, Congress did not approve or create the position and its creation violated the “Appointments Clause” of the Constitution, according to Breitbart. The brief was filed in the case where Smith seeks SCOTUS to review the question of whether Trump is protected by presidential immunity.
Meese filed the brief against Smith along with Steven Calabresi, the co-chairman of the Federalist Society, and Gary Lawson, a constitutional law professor. They asserted that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith to a nonexistent office without having proper authority to do so.
The Constitution created the presidential and vice presidential offices, but did not grant them the power to create additional offices. Only Congressional representatives have the authority to create offices under the law.
Garland, who is not an elected member of Congress, created the independent counsel position despite not having the authority to do so.
“Even if one somehow thinks that existing statutes authorize appointment of stand-alone special counsels with the full power of a U.S. Attorney, Smith was not properly appointed to such an ‘office,’” the amicus brief explained.
The authors also argued that Smith’s position granted him a surprising amount of power despite his extra-congressional position.
In order for the appointment to be proper, President Joe Biden would have to nominate Smith and a majority of the Senate would confirm him.
“Improperly appointed, he has no more authority to represent the United States in this Court than Bryce Harper, Taylor Swift, or Jeff Bezos,” the authors wrote.
The brief’s main focus was convincing the Supreme Court to refuse Smith’s petition for the court to take the case, which would require lower courts to dismiss his prosecutions, including his pending charges against Trump.
Meese was Attorney General for former President Ronald Reagan.
