AG Merrick Garland intends to release special counsel report on Trump’s Jan. 6 case, DOJ says

WASHINGTON — Special counsel Jack Smith has turned over to Attorney General Merrick Garland the completed final report on his two investigations that resulted in felony charges against President-elect Donald Trump, part of which Garland intends to make public, the Justice Department said in a filing Wednesday.

The filing — which was made by the Justice Department separate from Smith’s office — came after Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon temporarily blocked the release of the report on Trump’s handling of classified documents. Cannon is the Florida judge who tossed the charges against Trump, siding with an argument that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional.

But the Justice Department said Wednesday there was “neither any need nor legal basis for an injunction” on the release of the report because Garland intends to give Congress only volume one — which focuses on Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election — “in furtherance of the public interest in informing a co-equal branch and the public regarding this significant matter.”

Garland will not publicly release volume two of the report as long as the cases against Trump’s co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira remain pending.

“For the time being, Volume Two will be made available for in camera review only by the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees upon their request and agreement not to release any information from Volume Two publicly,” Justice Department lawyers wrote. “This limited disclosure will further the public interest in keeping congressional leadership apprised of a significant matter within the Department while safeguarding defendants’ interests.”

Justice Department attorneys asked the federal appeals court to “make clear that there is no impediment to the Attorney General allowing for limited congressional review” of the volume of the report on Trump’s classified documents case, along with the public release of the volume on Trump’s election interference case.

The Justice Department is also asking the 11th Circuit to vacate Cannon’s temporary injunction blocking release of any portion of the report for three days following a ruling by the circuit court. That three-day window would theoretically give Trump time to seek intervention from the Supreme Court to block the release of volume one of the report. If the circuit court grants DOJ’s request and overturns Cannon’s order, volume one could be released any time after that. 

Cannon has been criticized for repeatedly siding with Trump in the case, including in her decision to toss the charges against him. Some of those decisions, including her handling of a search of his Florida residence, have been reversed, with criticism that she acted without legal basis.