Standing issues never go away but may be raised at any point in any litigation. The fact of the matter is that everything Jack Smith has done as Special Counsel, since his appointment on November 18, 2022 has been unconstitutional and is null and void. Anyone now in jail, or subject to a plea bargain, with Jack Smith can ask to be released because Jack Smith is, in truth, a. private citizen. The judge in the Florida District Court classified documents case is under the jurisdiction of the 11th Circuit and is not bound by D.C. Circuit precedent. Any litigant in a case before her can argue that Jack Smith is not a lawfully appointed officer of the United States.

[Theoretically, maybe, but courts didn’t buy this argument on Robert Mueller and are not going to bother with it now either. We should just get rid of the special-counsel option altogether. They are always legal and political disasters, regardless of their legitimacy. — Ed]