Effort to block release of Jack Smith’s final report on Trump probes denied by appeals court

A group of judges at the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a request to stop the publication of special counsel Jack Smith’s final report on his two investigations involving Donald Trump.

Judge Aileen Cannon, who threw out Trump’s case concerning classified documents, temporarily halted the release of the report on Tuesday while the Eleventh Circuit reviewed the issue.

In their ruling, the Eleventh Circuit decided not to immediately lift Judge Cannon’s temporary block but instead specified that the Justice Department could submit a separate appeal if they wished to unveil the report before the expiration of Cannon’s injunction next Sunday.

Attorney General Merrick Garland informed Congress in a letter Wednesday that Smith had concluded his investigations into Trump, and informed members of Congress — as required by internal department regulations — that at no time did he interfere in to overrule Smith during the process of his probes, according to the letter released by the Department of Justice.

Garland also acknowledged in the letter that at this time he was currently barred by Judge Cannon from releasing the report outside of the Justice Department, but that he intends to make Volume One of the report, regarding Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election, available to the public once he is “permitted to do so” by the courts.

Trump’s lawyers filed an amicus brief with the Eleventh Circuit late Wednesday, arguing that the release of the report would harm the transition to his presidency.

“The report is nothing less than another attempted political hit job whose sole purpose is to disrupt the presidential transition and undermine President Trump’s exercise of executive power,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.

Trump’s lawyers argued that the release of the report would be “worse” than the four indictments Smith brought against the former president, by offering a “one-sided” view of the evidence without giving Trump the ability to defend himself.

“The Final Report goes into more detail about the alleged crimes President Trump and others supposedly committed and involves evidence that was never released to the public–indeed, evidence that could not be released, such as those involving official acts,” the filing said.

Trump’s lawyers claimed that Cannon’s decision deeming Smith’s appointment unconstitutional taints the report — which they described as an “extension of the unlawful acts of an unconstitutionally appointed and funded officer” — which should prohibit Garland from releasing it.

“Garland simply functions as a mouthpiece for the unconstitutionally-appointed Smith,” the filing said.

Garland, in his letter to Congress, confirmed that he plans to make available Volume Two of the report, pertaining to Trump’s classified documents case, available to leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees for closed-door review as soon as the Eleventh Circuit permits him to do so.

“Consistent with local court rules and Department policy, and to avoid any risk of prejudice to defendants Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, whose criminal cases remain pending, I have determined, at the recommendation of the Special Counsel, that Volume Two should not be made public so long as those defendants’ criminal proceedings are ongoing,” Garland wrote.

“I have determined that once those criminal proceedings have concluded, releasing Volume Two of the Report to you and to the public would also be in the public interest, consistent with law and Department policy,” he wrote.

Garland’s letter was addressed to Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Jamie Raskin, D-Md.

Trump pleaded not guilty in 2023 to 40 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back. He later pleaded not guilty to separate charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election in an effort to subvert democracy and remain in power.

Smith has been winding down his cases against the former president since Trump was reelected in November, due to a longstanding Department of Justice policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president.