Happy New Year 2025

Tag: appeals

Federal appeals court dismisses classified records case against former Trump co-defendants

A federal appeals court dismissed the appeal charges brought against President Donald Trump aides Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira by former Special Counsel Jack Smith in his classified documents case, Fox News Digital has learned.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case against Nauta and De Oliveira on Tuesday morning, two weeks after the Justice Department moved to drop the charges.

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FIRES MORE THAN A DOZEN KEY OFFICIALS ON FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH’S TEAM

Nauta, Trump’s valet, and De Oliveira, the property manager of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, had pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging they conspired to obstruct the FBI investigation into classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.

The Justice Department had filed a motion in January to drop all criminal proceedings against Nauta and De Oliveira, putting an end to Smith’s probe more than two years after it began.

Waltine Nauta, left, takes a phone from Former President Donald Trump at a golf event in Virginia. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)

Former Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith, a former Justice Department official, as special counsel in November 2022.

Smith, a former assistant U.S. attorney and chief to the DOJ’s public integrity section, led the investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents after leaving the White House and whether the former president obstructed the federal government’s investigation into the matter.

Carlos De Oliveira, center, an employee of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, arrives for a court appearance with attorney John Irving, at the James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building, in July 2023, in Miami. (Wilfredo Lee/The Associated Press)

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT MOVES TO DROP PROSECUTION OF MAR-A-LAGO STAFF IN TRUMP CLASSIFIED DOCS CASE

Smith also was tasked with overseeing the investigation into whether Trump or other officials and entities interfered with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, including the certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021.

Smith charged Trump in both cases, but Trump pleaded not guilty.

A federal appeals court dismissed the appeal charges brought against Waltine Nauta, Donald Trump’s valet, and Carlos De Oliveira, the property manager of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, pictured here. (Steve Helber/The Associated Press)

The classified records case was dismissed in July 2024 by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled that Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel.

Smith charged Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request.

Both cases were dismissed.

Former Special Counsel Jack Smith led the investigation into Donald Trump’s retention of classified documents after leaving the White House. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Justice Department, in January, fired more than a dozen key officials who worked on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team prosecuting the president, after then-Acting Attorney General James McHenry said they could not be trusted in “faithfully implementing the president’s agenda.”

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove has also directed acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll to identify agents involved in Jan. 6 prosecutions for internal review.

Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.

February 11, 2025
Trump administration appeals federal judge’s order to unfreeze federal funds

The Trump administration is appealing a federal judge’s order to unfreeze federal funding in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

The motion comes hours after a federal judge from Rhode Island ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to unfreeze federal funds once again, claiming the administration did not adhere to his previous order to do so.

U.S. District Judge John McConnell filed a new motion Monday ordering the Trump administration to comply with a restraining order issued Jan. 31, temporarily blocking the administration’s efforts to pause federal grants and loans.

McConnell’s original restraining order came after 22 states and the District of Columbia challenged the Trump administration’s actions to hold up funds for grants such as the Climate Pollution Reduction Grant and other Environmental Protection Agency programs. But the states said Friday that the administration isn’t following through and funds are still tied up.

The Office of Management and Budget released a memo Jan. 27 announcing plans to issue a temporary pause on federal grants and loans. While the White House later rescinded the memo on Jan. 29, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the move didn’t equate a “recission of the federal funding freeze.”

Specifically, McConnell’s motion calls for the Trump administration to restore withheld funds appropriated in the Infrastructure Improvement and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act that passed during the Biden administration in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The motion also calls on the Trump administration to restore funding for institutes like the National Institutes of Health.

‘CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS’: THE IMPOUNDMENT ACT TAKES CENTER STAGE AFTER RUSSEL VOUGHT’S CONFIRMATION

The Trump administration unveiled an Office of Management and Budget memo on Jan. 27 ordering a pause on federal funds and grants. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

The motion filed Monday asserts that states have provided evidence that there are still instances where the federal government has “improperly” frozen funds and failed to distribute appropriated federal funds.

While the motion says the Trump administration claims these actions were done to “root out” fraud, McConnell said that the “freezes in effect now were a result of the broad categorical order, not a specific finding of possible fraud.”

“The broad categorical and sweeping freeze of federal funds is, as the Court found, likely unconstitutional and has caused and continues to cause irreparable harm to a vast portion of this country,” the judge wrote on Monday.

LEAVITT PUSHES BACK ON MEDIA’S ‘UNCERTAINTY’ ABOUT FEDERAL FUNDING FREEZE

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

McConnell said in his original order that evidence suggested the White House’s rescission of the OMB memo may have been done in “name-only” in order to “defeat the jurisdiction of the court.”

As a result, McConnell said Monday that the Trump administration must “immediately restore frozen funding” until the court hears and decides the preliminary injunction request.

“Each executive order will hold up in court because every action of the Trump-Vance administration is completely lawful,” Harrison Fields, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement to Fox News. “Any legal challenge against it is nothing more than an attempt to undermine the will of the American people.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha praised McConnell’s ruling and said the order “confirmed what we have been saying from the beginning.”

“It is now time for the Administration to come into full compliance,” Neronha said in a statement Monday. “This is a country of laws. We expect the Administration to follow the law. Our Office and attorneys general across the country stand ready to keep careful watch on the actions of this Administration that follow, and we will not hesitate to go back to Court if they don’t comply.”

Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich contributed to this report.

Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.

February 10, 2025
Trump admin appeals ruling blocking birthright citizenship order

The Trump Justice Department appealed a Thursday order blocking the president’s birthright citizenship order, hours after the ruling was issued.

The Justice Department filed its appeal to the Ninth Circuit on Thursday evening. The move came shortly after U.S. District Judge John Coughenour extended a temporary restraining order he had previously issued. Coughenour notably scolded the Trump administration in the Washington courtroom, accusing the administration of ignoring the rule of law for political and personal gain.

“It has become ever more apparent that, to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain,” Coughenour said while announcing his ruling.

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER: ‘UNEQUIVOCAL CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT’

The appeal will now go up to the Ninth Circuit, which covers Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Guam. The Court of Appeals notably issues more progressive rulings with a higher reversal rate than other circuit courts.

The Washington ruling came only a day after a Maryland federal judge also blocked Trump’s executive order.

President Donald Trump issued the executive order, titled, “Protecting The Meaning And Value Of American Citizenship,” on Inauguration Day. (Getty)

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, a former President Joe Biden appointee, noted the Washington ruling that had previously paused Trump’s order from going into effect.

Boardman said citizenship is a “national concern that demands a uniform policy,” continuing on to say that no court has yet sided with the administration on the matter.

TRUMP ADMIN HITS BACK AS ACLU LAUNCHES LAWSUIT ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: ‘READY TO FACE THEM’

“Citizenship is a most precious right, expressly granted by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution,” she wrote in her ruling.

Trump issued the executive order, titled, “Protecting The Meaning And Value Of American Citizenship,” on Inauguration Day. The order seeks to end birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants and was one of several orders he signed that day to overhaul U.S. immigration policy and border security.

The executive order seeks to end birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants and was one of several orders President Donald Trump signed to overhaul U.S. immigration policy and border security. (Getty Images)

Supporters and opponents of the order disagree over the meaning of the 14th Amendment, which states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

The primary disagreement is over the clause, “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

TRUMP’S HOUSE GOP ALLIES PUSH BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP BILL AFTER PROGRESSIVE FURY AT PRESIDENTIAL ORDER

Some legal experts argue that such a move is a constitutional change and cannot be made via executive order. Trump advisers and other conservative legal scholars have previously argued that the idea of giving birthright citizenship to children of illegal immigrants is based on a misreading of the amendment.

The bill was introduced by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham (SC), Katie Britt (AL), and Ted Cruz (TX), left. (Getty Images)

Senate Republicans recently introduced a bill that would reform U.S. law to end birthright citizenship in light of the executive order. The bill, titled, the “Birthright Citizenship Act of 2025,” would end the practice of automatically conferring citizenship status on people born in the U.S. of parents who are either illegal immigrants or who are in the country legally on a temporary basis.

The bill was introduced by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Katie Britt of Alabama, and Ted Cruz of Texas.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The bill’s sponsors said in a statement that the measure would address what they called “one of the biggest magnets for illegal immigration,” which they believe poses a weakness to national security.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano, Adam Shaw and Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

Haley Chi-Sing is a Writer for Fox News Digital. You can reach her at @haleychising on X.

February 7, 2025
Trump’s new legal team begins appeals process for Manhattan conviction

President Donald Trump’s legal team filed a notice of appeal for his conviction in his Manhattan trial, Fox News Digital confirmed on Wednesday, which found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records.

“President Donald J. Trump’s appeal is important for the rule of law, New York’s reputation as a global business, financial and legal center, as well as for the presidency and all public officials,” newly minted Trump attorney Robert J. Giuffra Jr. said in a statement provided by a Trump spokesperson to the Associated Press on Wednesday. “The misuse of the criminal law by the Manhattan DA to target President Trump sets a dangerous precedent, and we look forward to the case being dismissed on appeal.”

Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office worked to prove that Trump had falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.

‘ANYTHING BUT ORDINARY’: LEGAL EXPERTS SHRED NY V. TRUMP AS ‘ONE OF THE WORST’ CASES IN HISTORY

Trump has maintained his innocence in the case and repeatedly railed against it as an example of lawfare promoted by Democrats in an effort to hurt his efforts ahead of the November 2024 election.

“The appeal of Trump’s criminal conviction has finally begun with the filing of the notice of appeal today,” Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley posted on X Wednesday.

“While expectations are not particularly high for relief in the NY court system, this process moves the case closer to an appeal to the Supreme Court,” he continued.

Presiding New York Judge Juan Merchan sentenced Trump on Jan. 10, just days before his inauguration as the 47th president, to unconditional discharge — meaning he faces no punishment such as fines or jail time. Legal experts railed against the sentencing earlier in January, with Fox News’ Mark Levin remarking that it will be remembered as “one of the worst” legal cases in world history.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom during his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024, in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Pool via REUTERS)

“I’ll tell you how it strikes me, when you look at cases throughout history, not just in the United States, but really all over the world, this will be remembered as one of the worst. This will be remembered as an absolute injustice from the beginning,” Levin said on Fox News after the sentencing.

DONALD TRUMP SENTENCED WITH NO PENALTY IN NEW YORK CRIMINAL TRIAL, AS JUDGE WISHES HIM ‘GODSPEED’ IN 2ND TERM

Fox News Digital exclusively reported on Wednesday that Trump retained a new legal team after some of his top attorneys joined his administration. He is now represented by Sullivan & Cromwell, including co-chair and partner of the firm, Robert J. Giuffra Jr and Matthew Schwartz, a partner of the firm.

President Donald Trump retained a new legal team after some of his top attorneys joined his administration. (Matt Rourke/The Associated Press)

Giuffra previewed the importance of an appeal to the conviction in comment to Fox Digital earlier Wednesday.

REPUBLICANS BLAST ‘JOKE’ SENTENCING OF TRUMP 10 DAYS BEFORE SWEARING IN

“President Donald J. Trump’s appeal is important for the rule of law, New York’s reputation as a global business, financial and legal center, as well as for the presidency and all public officials,” Giuffra told Fox News Digital. “The misuse of the criminal law by the Manhattan DA to target President Trump sets a dangerous precedent, and we look forward to the case being dismissed on appeal.”

Judge Juan Merchan imposed over a courtroom (AP)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump had also previously said he will appeal the conviction, including earlier this month when he said on Truth Social that “JUSTICE WILL PREVAIL.”

January 29, 2025