This set of photos shows Special Counsel Jack Smith in Washington, D.C., in August 2023 and President-elect Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, in November 2022.
Saul Loeb/Eva Marie Ozcategui/AFP via Getty Images
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Saul Loeb/Eva Marie Ozcategui/AFP via Getty Images
Florida District Judge Eileen Cannon has cleared the way for the Justice Department to release the first part of the special counsel’s investigation into President-elect Donald Trump, covering the investigation and charges against Trump related to the 2020 presidential election.
Cannon denied a request made by former defendants in the Trump case who sought to prevent the publication of the report of special counsel Jack Smith on the election interference case.
The Justice Department has been fighting in court over whether it is allowed to release a final report from Smith on his cases against Trump. Such a report is a mandatory part of the special counsel’s work, and may be the last chance for prosecutors to explain their decisions after they dropped federal cases against Trump after he won the election. Trump was accused of election interference in Washington, D.C., withholding secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort and refusing to return them to the FBI.
The Justice Department agreed not to publicly release the second volume of its report, on the secret documents issue, to avoid interfering in an ongoing case against other defendants. But it wants to release the first volume, covering the investigation and charges against Trump linked to the 2020 presidential election.
Last week, Cannon, a Trump appointee, temporarily blocked the Justice Department from releasing the full Jack Smith report until a federal appeals court resolves the legal battle.
Trump also said the special counsel was appointed illegally and that any public report would be legally invalid and hurt his transition to the White House.
Lawyers can still petition the US Supreme Court to block the report’s publication.