Federal Judge In Trump’s Docs Case Blocks DOJ From Releasing Smith Report
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon may have delivered a significant setback to former Special Counsel Jack Smith and his legal team.
On Friday, Judge Cannon indicated her reluctance to permit Smith and his prosecutors to submit a redacted report to Congress on the classified documents case involving now-President-elect Donald Trump, according to CNN.
“At the end of the day, what’s the urgency of doing this right now?” Cannon asked Justice Department attorney Elizabeth Shapiro during the hearing.
Cannon questioned the timing of the Justice Department’s request, particularly since the prosecution of Trump’s former co-defendants, dismissed last summer, remains under appeal. “Friday, Cannon peppered Shapiro with questions about why the department was offering the report to Congress now when there is a possibility that the prosecution against Trump’s former codefendants could be revived,” the report noted.
Shapiro acknowledged that she didn’t have a specific answer but clarified that the report would only be accessible to select members of Congress under strict conditions: it would be reviewed behind closed doors, and its contents and Smith’s findings would not be shared publicly.
“Still, the judge demanded examples of when the department has disclosed non-public information to Congress from its investigatory work when the matters weren’t fully closed,” CNN reported.
Cannon also pointed out that in past instances where a special counsel’s report was disclosed, it occurred only after a case had reached “a moment of finality” when there was “no doubt.”
Smith officially stepped down from his role at the Department of Justice last month, following the conclusion of his investigations into Trump. The New York Times reported that Smith submitted his final confidential report on January 7, 2025, and departed the DOJ on January 10.
In a footnote included in a motion filed with Cannon, Smith stated, “The Special Counsel completed his work and submitted his final confidential report on January 7, 2025, and separated from the Department on January 10.”
Smith’s motion sought to lift a court order that currently blocks the release of his report. The report, described as a two-volume account, details Smith’s decision-making processes in the two cases he pursued against Trump and his reasoning for not bringing other charges.
“Mr. Trump’s lawyers and lawyers for his two co-defendants in the documents case have been fighting fiercely for the past week to stop the release of both volumes. In court papers, they have assailed the report as a ‘one-sided’ and ‘unlawful’ political attack against the president-elect and complained it unfairly implicates some unnamed ‘anticipated’ members of his incoming administration,” The Times reported.
Separately, a federal appeals court recently denied a request to withhold parts of Smith’s final report from the public. The report contains details about Smith’s investigation into Trump’s alleged interference in the 2020 election and the alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Trump aides Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, who faced charges of obstructing a separate investigation into the handling of sensitive government records, also requested that portions of the report be withheld. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit denied their appeal but imposed a three-day delay before the DOJ could release the report, as reported by Fox News.
Smith’s tenure as special counsel was marked by the contentious cases he brought against Trump, which concluded following Trump’s electoral victory. However, the release of his final report remains a flashpoint in the ongoing legal battles surrounding the president-elect.