U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon permanently barred the Justice Department from releasing Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on the criminal case accusing Donald Trump of unlawfully retaining classified documents.
Judge Cannon, appointed by Trump, found that disclosing the report would be a “manifest injustice” to Trump and two former aides charged in the case, as the allegations never reached a jury.
Driving the news: All charges in the documents case were dismissed by Cannon in 2024, after she ruled that Smith was not lawfully appointed as special counsel.
- The case alleged Trump illegally stored national defense documents, including nuclear program materials, at Mar-a-Lago and obstructed government retrieval efforts.
- Trump and co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira pleaded not guilty and argued that the prosecution was politically motivated, urging the judge to block the report’s release.
- The Justice Department during both Trump and Biden administrations supported keeping the report confidential; after Trump’s 2024 election victory, Biden’s DOJ dropped attempts to revive the case.
Zoom in: Special counsels are required to write reports for the attorney general summarizing their findings, but Judge Cannon ruled releasing this report would violate fairness and justice since there was no verdict.
- Previously, Smith’s report on a separate, since-dismissed case about the 2020 election was made public, but this documents case report will remain sealed.
- Cannon also cited the risk of releasing grand jury information and found that Smith’s creation of the report undermined her ruling on his appointment’s legality.
- The Justice Department had already dropped charges against co-defendants Nauta and de Oliveira after Trump returned to office.
