The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a motion on Jan. 29 to voluntarily dismiss its appeal in the Florida classified documents case that has reached the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
Hayden O’Byrne, the interim U.S. attorney in Miami, noted in the filing that the government had conferred with counsel for two remaining appellees, Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, who were named as defendants along with President Donald Trump.
The DOJ was in the process of appealing Florida Judge Aileen Cannon’s dismissal of the classified documents case. Cannon had ruled that Smith was unlawfully appointed.
The DOJ’s motion was made after Cannon blocked the release of the second volume of Smith’s report on the classified documents case.
“That reasonable likelihood risks substantial prejudice to the due process rights of Defendants, who remain subject to the protective order in this case.”
The motion is part of a wave of changes that have occurred under the new administration, which has expressed an interest in halting what it views as weaponization of the department, or politically-based prosecutions. (Read more: The Epoch Times, 1/29/2025) (Archive)