 "Special counsel Jack Smith speaks to the media about an indictment of former President Donald Trump, on August 1, 2023, at an office of the Department of Justice in Washington. AP File")
US District Court Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday allowed the release of the volume of special counsel Jack Smith’s report dealing with President-elect Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case, the latest ruling in a court dispute over the highly anticipated document days before Trump is set to take office again.
However, a temporary injunction preventing the immediate release of the report will remain in effect until Tuesday. US District Judge Aileen Cannon’s order is expected to face further challenges, with defence attorneys likely to appeal to the Supreme Court, according to Associated Press.
Cannon had previously issued a temporary block preventing the department from releasing the complete report on Smith’s investigations into Trump, which resulted in two separate criminal cases.
However, her latest order on Monday allowed for the release of the section concerning Trump’s interference in the 2020 election. She has scheduled a hearing for Friday to determine whether the department can share the section related to Trump’s classified documents case with lawmakers.
The department has stated it will refrain from making that volume public while criminal proceedings against two of Trump’s co-defendants are still ongoing.
Smith resigned his position on Friday after transmitting his report to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Justice Department revealed in a footnote in a court filing over the weekend.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe ruling, if it stands, could open the door for the public to learn additional details in the coming days about Trump’s frantic but ultimately failed effort to cling to power in the run-up to the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.
But even as Cannon permitted the release of the volume on election interference, she halted the Justice Department from immediately sharing with congressional officials a separate volume related to Trump’s hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Lawyers for the Republican president elect’s two co-defendants, Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira, had argued that the release of the report would prejudice them given that criminal proceedings remain ongoing against them in the form of a Justice Department appeal of Cannon’s dismissal of charges.
As a compromise, the Justice Department said that it would not make that document public but would instead share it with select congressional officials for their private review. But Cannon halted those plans and instead scheduled a hearing for Friday afternoon, reported the Associated Press.
“All parties agree that Volume II expressly and directly concerns this criminal proceeding," she wrote.
“All parties also appear to agree that public release of Volume II would be inconsistent with the fair trial rights of Defendants Nauta and De Oliveira and with Department of Justice Policy governing the release of information during the pendency of criminal proceedings.”
With inputs from agencies