U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland intends to release Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on the 2020 election interference case, but not the classified documents case.
Attorney General Merrick Garland will release Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on the 2020 election interference case against President-elect Trump, according to a court filing.
The Department of Justice told the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Wednesday that Garland intends to release Volume One of Smith’s final report to Congress and the public, which covers the allegations that Trump attempted to illegally undo the results of the 2020 presidential election.
However, Garland will not release Volume Two, which covers the classified documents case against Trump, as two defendants in that case still face criminal proceedings. Only the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees will be permitted to view Volume Two, and they will be prohibited from discussing the report publicly.
“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 said in response to a motion to stop the report from being released.
FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH FROM RELEASING FINAL REPORT
It is customary for special counsels to release a final report, detailing the findings of their investigation and explaining any prosecution or declination decisions they reached. In Smith’s case, the prosecution decision is immaterial, given Trump’s status as president-elect and long-standing Justice Department policy against bringing criminal charges against a sitting president.
Smith planned to release his final report sometime this month, as early as the end of this week. He will resign from his position before Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
However, Trump co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira filed an emergency motion to block the reported imminent release of Smith’s final report.
FORMER TRUMP CO-DEFENDANTS WANT JUDGE TO BLOCK SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH REPORT
U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida Aileen Cannon on Tuesday ruled in favor of Nauta and De Oliveira to “prevent irreparable harm.”
Cannon said Smith is “temporarily enjoined” from “releasing, sharing, or transmitting the Final Report or any drafts of such Report outside the Department of Justice.”
The order remains in effect until three days after a resolution is announced from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
Nauta and De Oliveira pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging they conspired to obstruct the FBI investigation into classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
Smith was tapped by Garland in 2022 to investigate both the alleged effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as Trump’s keeping of allegedly classified documents at his Florida residence.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Cannon, this summer, dismissed Smith’s case against Trump relating to classified records, ruling that he was appointed unlawfully as special counsel.
And in November, federal Judge Tanya Chutkan dropped Smith’s charges against Trump in the 2020 election interference case. Smith also dropped his appeal to Cannon’s ruling in the classified records case.
Garland has opted to release the reports from two other special counsels whose investigations concluded during his tenure – publishing both the summary reports submitted by John Durham, who was tapped by then-Attorney General Bill Barr in 2019 to review the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, as well as the final report from Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney whom he tapped in 2023 to investigate President Biden’s handling of classified documents.
