A federal judge has pumped the brakes on special counsel Jack Smith’s final report concerning his criminal cases against President-elect Donald Trump.
In a decisive move on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon issued an unsigned order preventing Attorney General Merrick Garland, Smith, or anyone at the Justice Department from releasing the report, as reported by The New York Post.
The order, which temporarily bars publication, remains in effect until three days after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit decides on a pivotal question: Was Smith’s appointment as special counsel unconstitutional?
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Smith’s investigations, highly publicized and contentious, have centered on two indictments against Trump. The first, unsealed in June 2023, alleged mishandling of classified documents after Trump left office. The second, released in August 2023, accused Trump of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
However, Judge Cannon previously dismissed Smith’s classified documents case last year, asserting that Garland improperly appointed Smith without Congressional approval. This ruling marked a significant setback for the Justice Department’s legal maneuvers against Trump.
Despite Cannon’s dismissal, two co-defendants—Trump’s valet, Walt Nauta, and a Mar-a-Lago employee, Carlos De Oliveira—remain entangled in legal battles. Their attorneys filed an emergency appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to block the transmission of Smith’s report and prevent Garland from releasing it.
Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, blasted the Justice Department’s actions, framing them as blatant political interference. “It is time for Joe Biden and Merrick Garland to do the right thing and put a final stop to the political weaponization of our Justice system,” Cheung stated.
“The American People elected President Trump with a historic and overwhelming mandate, and we look forward to uniting our country in the new Administration as President Trump makes America great again.”
Judge Cannon justified her order by citing the necessity to prevent irreparable harm and ensure due process.
“[T]o preserve the status quo as this Court awaits resolution by the Eleventh Circuit of the similar Emergency Motion, to prevent irreparable harm arising from the circumstances as described in the current record in this emergency posture, and to permit an orderly and deliberative sequence of events,” Cannon wrote.
The judicial wrangling over Smith’s report underscores the broader political and legal tensions defining this high-stakes chapter in American history. Critics argue that the Justice Department’s actions reek of partisanship, while Trump’s legal team frames the indictments as an attack on democracy itself.
As the nation watches closely, the fate of Smith’s report—and the broader implications for Trump’s legal battles—remains in the hands of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
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