Washington DC - Special Counsel Jack Smith delivered a fiery response after the judge overseeing Donald Trump's classified documents case entertained a false claim from the former president in a recent ruling.

In a 24-page filing submitted moments before midnight on Tuesday, Smith criticized US District Court Judge Aileen Cannon's recent order for jury instructions, which he described as "fundamentally flawed," and threatened to appeal to a higher court if the order stands.

Last month, Judge Cannon, who was appointed by Trump in 2020, issued instructions that would allow the documents at the center of the case to be classified as "personal or presidential," per the Presidential Records Act.

Trump is facing 40 felony charges for taking dozens of boxes of documents from the White House and resisting authorities' attempts to retrieve them.

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He has argued repeatedly that under the PRA, he had "unreviewable discretion" over the documents and marked them as "personal" on his way out.

In his filing, Smith described Trump's argument as "pure fiction" that he "invented," adding it "should not play any role at trial at all."

Critics have argued that several of Judge Cannon's recent decisions show her going out of her way to rule in Trump's favor, and some believe she is in on his intent to delay the trial past the presidential elections in November, allowing him to pardon himself to avoid charges.

Judge Cannon has yet to schedule a start to the trial.