Judge blocks Justice Department report on Donald Trump's classified documents case
A federal judge in Florida ordered the Justice Department on Tuesday not to release to Congress special counsel Jack Smith’s report on part of the investigation of President Donald Trump dealing with classified documents.
Former Attorney General Merrick Garland had planned not to release the report about classified documents seized at Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago because charges remain disputed against two of his former co-defendants. But Garland said he would provide the report to the top Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon blocked that plan, ordering the Justice Department not to provide the report to lawmakers.
Release of the report to lawmakers without any conditions or ways to prevent public distribution “presents a substantial and unacceptable risk of prejudice to Defendants,” Cannon ruled.
The decision came after Garland and Smith left the department this month, before Trump's inauguration Monday. Trump fought the release of Smith’s entire report as a “political hit job,” so his appointees at the Justice Department aren’t expected to release the portion on classified documents.
Smith secured two indictments against Trump, for an alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election and for allegedly mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House. Judges dismissed both cases at Smith’s request after Trump won the Nov. 5 election.
Garland released the election interference volume. But charges remain on appeal against two of Trump’s former co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, who are charged with conspiring to hide the classified documents.
Cannon dismissed the charges against Trump, Nauta and De Oliveira by ruling Smith was appointed illegitimately. Smith appealed to the 11 U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn her ruling but the appeals court hasn’t decided yet about Nauta and De Oliveira.
Nauta and De Oliveira asked Cannon to block the report’s release while their case is pending and she agreed. Cannon ruled that the report contained number references to evidence in the case, much of which “has not been made public in Court filings.”
“There is no ‘historical practice’ of providing Special Counsel reports to Congress, even on a limited basis, pending conclusion of criminal proceedings,” Cannon ruled. “In fact, there is not one instance of this happening until now.”