Washington — A federal judge on Monday cleared the way for the Justice Department to release one of two volumes that make up Special Counsel Jack Smith’s final report detailing its investigation into President-elect Donald Trump.
U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon denied a request by Trump aide Walt Nauta and former Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira to block the release of Smith’s final report. “Emergency injunctive relief is granted with respect to Title I.”
A federal appeals court separately declined to stop release of the report after Cannon last week issued a temporary injunction blocking the Justice Department from releasing it. Her order will remain in place until 12 a.m. Tuesday.
Federal prosecutors said in court filings that the first part of Smith’s report relates to their investigation into Trump’s attempts to subvert the transfer of power after the 2020 election. The second involves allegations that the president-elect kept confidential documents after his first term ended in 2021.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said the second part of the report on the docket case would not be released publicly because of the ongoing litigation involving Nauta and de Oliveira. de Oliveira’s attorney, John Irving, declined to comment on Cannon’s ruling.
In the five-page decision, Cannon wrote that his “power to enforce” the ruling is “limited” to confidential document cases. Cases related to the 2020 election were filed in Washington, D.C., and were overseen by different judges.
Still, Cannon said there are outstanding legal issues with the Justice Department’s proposed plan to give certain members of Congress access to Volume 2 of the report. The defense team argued against limited disclosure, writing that doing so would risk information leaks.
She held a hearing Friday in court in Fort Pierce, Florida, to consider that proposal.
Cannon said that if the report’s second volume were to be released, even on a limited basis, “there is a risk that the legal rights of defendants in these criminal proceedings will be irreversibly and substantially impaired. The court is not willing to take such a gamble based on the generalized interests of its members.” “I wrote. “We will not defer to Congress without at least a full briefing and hearing on this topic.”
She said the government had “failed to provide any justification to support the proposal” that the second book should be released to parliament now rather than “after a reasonable period of time for prompt hearing and judicial review of the subject”.
Report by Jack Smith
Cannon’s decision is the latest in a fast-moving legal battle over Smith’s report, just days ahead of President Trump’s re-election. It is highly unlikely that the special counsel’s report will be made public when the president-elect returns to the White House on January 20th.
smith resigned from his position He was appointed as a special prosecutor last Friday, and Justice Department prosecutors are currently overseeing all issues arising from his investigation. Smith’s two investigations and prosecutions of Trump were later halted due to his election victory in November.
At the special prosecutor’s request, the special prosecutor drafted a final report last week and submitted it to the Attorney General. Garland pledged to make public all special prosecutor reports completed while he was attorney general, and he has kept that promise. President Biden Investigation Handling confidential documents.
But Nauta and de Oliveira are fighting to keep the report from being released to the public. The two were charged with obstructing the investigation into President Trump’s handling of classified documents. Cannon dismissed the case against them on the grounds that the special counsel was unconstitutional, but federal prosecutors are appealing her decision regarding Nauta and de Oliveira.
Defense attorneys argued that making the report public would unfairly impair the potential for future criminal proceedings. Last week, the defense team simultaneously asked the 11th Circuit Court and Cannon to block the Justice Department’s release of the report.
cannon Temporarily stopped The report was released until the 11th Circuit resolved the issue. The appeals court denied Nauta and de Oliveira’s request to keep Smith’s report private, but Cannon’s order remained in place. Just hours before a district court judge’s temporary restraining order was set to expire, Trump unsuccessfully requested an extension to allow consideration of his previous request to intervene.
Trump’s lawyers wrote in their request that “this reasonable course would result in full disclosure of material issues that are unaltered by the government’s statements on Volume 1,” but Cannon rejected the request. “These issues are heavy, serious, and ultimately demonstrate that President Trump deserves full relief.”
The president-elect is no longer a party to the proceedings after being dismissed from the case in late November and accused the Justice Department of “attempting to interfere with the incoming presidential administration in this manner.” inauguration.”
Federal prosecutors told the 11th Circuit that Garland will not release portions of Smith’s report covering the docket case pending litigation involving his two co-defendants, but plans to release the first book related to the 2020 election case. They said they would make the two volumes of redactions available for review only by top members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and only if they agree not to share the information.
“This limited disclosure will advance the public interest in keeping congressional leadership informed of important issues within the Department while protecting the interests of the defendants,” prosecutors wrote.
The Justice Department also said in its filing Sunday that “Volume 1 twice references the Confidential Documents case without mentioning defendants Nauta or De Oliveira, their conduct, or the evidence or charges against them.” “
Last week, Garland informed lawmakers that Smith had completed his investigation and submitted a two-volume report. The Attorney General reiterated his intention to release the first volume “in furtherance of the public interest in informing equal departments and the public about this important issue,” but will not release the second volume “to avoid the risk of bias.” By Nauta and de Oliveira.
