Special Counsel Jack Smith arrives to deliver remarks on a 2023 indictment against Trump in Washington, DC
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Florida Judge Aileen Cannon on Tuesday temporarily blocked the Justice Department from releasing a final report from special counsel Jack Smith, the latest setback in federal criminal charges against Donald Trump.
Prosecutors dropped two criminal charges against Trump after his 2024 election victory, and Smith’s final report could be the last chance for prosecutors to explain their decisions.
Trump has been accused of election interference in Washington, D.C., and of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort and refusing to return them to the FBI. Smith dropped the charges after the November election, following a long-standing Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
But special advocates are also required to file a report on their actions with the attorney general when they have completed their work. The current Attorney General, Merrick Garland, has pledged to make most of these reports public.
Smith was expected to file his report in Garland on Tuesday, with plans to make it public this week.
But Cannon — who was appointed to the bench by Trump and had previously dismissed the documents case — ordered the DOJ not to share Jack Smith’s final report until a federal appeals court resolves the legal fight.
Cannon had dismissed the charges against Trump and two co-defendants, his longtime aides Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, on the grounds that Smith was unconstitutionally appointed. After Trump won the 2024 election, the Justice Department withdrew him from its appeal. But he continued the appeal trial for the other two defendants, who expressed concern about the harm they would suffer if Smith’s final report was released while they still face the threat of a trial.
Trump also argued that the special counsel was appointed illegally and that any public reporting would be legally invalid and harm his transition to the White House.
He personally attacked Smith at a news conference Tuesday, calling him a “nasty, nasty guy” and praising Cannon’s decision to dismiss the documents case.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit is expected to rule on the emergency motion to block release of the report.
Rep. Gerald Connolly, Va., the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, criticized Cannon’s decision Tuesday.
“The DOJ must release its report on Trump’s mishandling of classified documents by January 20 so the American people can understand the full extent of the president-elect’s illegal possession of hundreds of the most sensitive government documents” , he said in a press release. “The public’s right to information is paramount.”
Sentence appeal fails
However, another case against the president-elect is pending: the only one of his multiple criminal cases to go to trial.
A New York state appeals court on Tuesday rejected Trump’s legal team’s request to delay sentencing for his secret sentencing, which is scheduled for Friday, just 10 days before his inauguration.
A state jury convicted Trump of 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump’s legal team had sought to delay or drop the entire case, arguing that the president-elect was immune from prosecution.
New York Judge Juan Merchan had previously delayed sentencing several times, but recently said Trump’s lawyers had failed to prove the president-elect was immune from charges.
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