A U.S. judge has temporarily blocked Special Counsel Jack Smith from releasing his investigative report into President-elect Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents.
On Monday, Judge Eileen Cannon, the federal judge presiding over Trump’s now-dismissed case, ordered the U.S. Justice Department not to release the report until a federal appeals court rules on a request by two former co-defendants.
Co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira remain subject to appeal. They have argued that making the report public could violate their right to a fair hearing.
The criminal charges in the classified documents case were announced in June 2023 as prosecutors alleged that Trump and his aide, Nauta, refused federal subpoenas to turn over records containing defense intelligence and other sensitive material after they left office.
The prosecution also charged the two with concealing documents and attempting to conceal evidence.
De Oliveira, who worked as a maintenance worker at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, was charged in an updated indictment in August 2023 and implicated in a conspiracy to delete surveillance footage.
Trump is the first US president to face criminal charges. He was later convicted in a separate criminal case in New York of forging business documents.
Meanwhile, the classified documents case has faced several challenges since it was first announced.
Judge Cannon, who was nominated by President Trump, overturned the case in his decision last July, saying the “special counsel” position was not authorized by Congress.
This went against years of legal precedent. Special counsel are generally authorized to provide independent legal advice in cases where a conflict of interest may arise.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, a member of Joe Biden’s administration, appointed Smith to the role in 2022 to investigate Trump-related matters.
In addition to the classified documents case, Smith also investigated allegations that Trump attempted to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. This led to a separate criminal indictment in August 2023.
Both federal cases were dismissed last November after Trump won a second term. Smith has also announced his intention to resign before Trump’s inauguration, at which point the Republican leader will take control of the Justice Department.
“It has long been the Department of Justice’s position that the United States Constitution prohibits federal prosecution and subsequent criminal prosecution of a sitting president,” Smith wrote in a legal filing at the time.
Mr. Smith’s report reportedly includes one volume on the classified documents case and the second volume on the election interference case. But a spokeswoman for Smith’s office declined to comment on Judge Cannon’s order Monday barring his release.
Justice Department rules require Smith to submit a final report to Garland, who had promised during his tenure to release all reports from the special counsel.
Trump applauded Judge Cannon’s decision during a question-and-answer session at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago.
He has long accused prosecutors of being a politically motivated attempt to block his rise to power. On Monday, he repeatedly called Smith a “disgrace.”
“He would probably like a 500-page report because he wanted to do it right before I took office,” Trump told reporters. “And that would be a fake report, too.” I’m learning the news.
“So if they are not allowed to issue a report, they should do so. Because he was kicked out of the case in disgrace. Why should we allow him to write fake reports?”
