Members and Leadership Sign Amicus Brief in US v. Trump
Members and leadership of the Society signed this amicus brief in the matter of United States v. Trump, Waltine Nauta, and Carlos de Oliveira, addressing whether the Special Counsel was lawfully appointed consistent with federal law and the Appointments Clause of the Constitution.
The brief argues “the Appointments Clause of the Constitution authorizes Congress to vest the power to appoint ‘inferior officers’ in the Attorney General as the head of the Department of Justice” and that, “as the Supreme Court has confirmed, a special prosecutor empowered to investigate and prosecute a particular criminal matter is such an inferior officer.”
Therefore, it further argues “that constitutional and statutory authority unmistakably establish the lawfulness of Special Counsel Smith’s appointment.” Signatories on the brief include:
Donald Ayer – Deputy Attorney General under President Bush (1989-1990)
George T. Conway III – Board President for the Society for the Rule of Law
Stuart M. Gerson – Former Acting Attorney General (1993)
Trevor Potter – Former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission (1994)
Alan Charles Raul – Former Associate Counsel to the President (1986-1988)
Stanley Twardy Jr. – Former United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut (1985-1991)