Wednesday, July 17, 2024

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1/ Special Counsel Jack Smith appealed Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to dismiss criminal charges against convicted felon Trump for mishandling classified information and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Smith’s appeal, which was expected, will be heard in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Cannon cited “unlawful appointment and funding of special counsel Jack Smith” as the grounds for dismissing the case after Trump argued that the appointment was unconstitutional. Trump was indicted and charged with 40 felony counts as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House. (Axios / CNN / Bloomberg / CNBC)

2/ Biden is reportedly finalizing plans to reform the Supreme Court, including imposing term limits and establishing an enforceable code of ethics, which was absent from the code the court adopted last year. Biden has also discussed calling for a constitutional amendment to limit the broad immunity for presidents recently granted by the court. Establishing term limits and an ethics code would both require congressional approval, including 60 votes in the Senate. A constitutional amendment would require two-thirds support from both chambers of Congress or from a convention called by two-thirds of the states, as well as the approval of three-fourths of state legislatures. (Washington Post / CNN / Politico / Associated Press / NBC News)

3/ The Democratic National Committee attempted to virtually nominate Biden for re-election early. The party, however, pushed back the virtual roll call from as early as July 21 to the first week of August following criticism from some Democrats, accusing the party of attempting to ram Biden’s nomination through without an open process at the Chicago convention, which begins Aug. 19. Although the DNC is scheduled for Aug. 19, Democrats had planned for a pre-convention virtual roll call to account for an Aug. 7 Ohio deadline for ballot access. While lawmakers in Ohio have since passed a law to resolve the issue, the amended deadline doesn’t go into effect until Sept. 1 and the DNC has pointed to the potential of a legal challenge by Ohio Republicans to kick Biden off the ballot. (New York Times / Washington Post /

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