Attorney General Merrick Garland spoke Tuesday about former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, saying he would not make a “fundamental mistake” by appointing a special counsel to investigate.
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed Trump’s lawsuit, saying Garland’s appointment of a special counsel to the case was unconstitutional.
In an interview with NBC Nightly News correspondent Ken Dilanian on Tuesday, Garland said he disagreed with Cannon’s decision and stood by his decision to appoint special counsel Jack Smith to handle the case.
“I was a federal judge for over twenty years. Do I look like someone who would make a fundamental mistake about the rules? I don’t think so.”
“This is the same process for appointing special counsel that was followed under the previous administration,” he continued. “Every court to date, including the Supreme Court, has considered the legality of appointing special counsel.
Trump was indicted on 40 counts related to his handling of classified documents and allegedly obstructing the government’s efforts to recover them from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Earlier this month, his group filed a motion to block the lawsuit after the Supreme Court ruled that U.S. presidents, including Trump, have immunity from prosecution for executive action during their time in office. In a separate opinion in the case, Justice Clarence Thomas also questioned the legality of Smith’s appointment.
Thomas wrote, “If that investigation does not take place, it must be conducted by someone authorized by the Americans.”
Cannon ruled in his decision that Smith’s appointment to conduct the case violated the Constitution’s clause that gives Congress a “preeminent role” in appointing certain government departments “not to be taken away or discharged by the executive power” and elsewhere: “—whether in this case or any other, in the most urgent need of the country,” Thomas’ decision said.
Smith objected to Trump’s request shortly after he sought to reinstate the charges.