Trump Presses to Block Release of DOJ Special Counsel Report
(Bloomberg) -- President-elect Donald Trump is opposing the release of Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith’s final report, which his lawyers say accuses Trump of engaging in “an unprecedented criminal effort.”
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A new court filing to the Florida judge who tossed the case accusing Trump of mishandling top secret documents confirms that Smith is close to finalizing — and perhaps has already finished — his much-anticipated report on the two criminal probes into Trump’s conduct. Trump’s lawyers and other defense attorneys were allowed to read a copy only weeks before Trump is to be inaugurated Jan. 20.
Trump is no longer a defendant in the documents case after Smith ended both cases against him after the election, citing longstanding Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.
But lawyers for Trump’s former co-defendants in the Florida case filed papers asking US District Judge Aileen Cannon to issue an emergency order barring Attorney General Merrick Garland or any other Justice Department official from releasing the report to the public. They wrote that there was “reason to believe” the report would come out “within the next few days.”
Cannon issued a controversial ruling last year that dismissed the case against Trump on the basis that Garland’s appointment of Smith was unconstitutional. Smith’s office was in the process of appealing that ruling when Trump was reelected in November.
Smith’s Timeline
A letter that Trump’s lawyers sent to Garland on Monday expressing their opposition to the report’s release was included with Monday’s court filing.
A spokesperson for Smith’s office declined to comment.
Tuesday morning, Smith’s office filed a brief response that confirmed that the two-volume report is being finalized and provided the judge with a timeline for next steps as the office drafted a full reply to the defendants’ request. Smith wouldn’t send the document to Garland until early Tuesday afternoon at the soonest, the government said, and Garland hadn’t decided whether he would release either section. If Garland planned to disclose the volume about the Florida case, it wouldn’t happen before Friday.
Defense lawyers were allowed to review the report in person at Smith’s office in Washington, according to the filing, and did so in the past week. Trump’s lawyers said in their letter that the report alleges that the former president was “the head of the criminal conspiracies” and harbored a “criminal design.” They called those accusations false.
Separate from the classified documents cases, Smith’s team also indicted Trump on charges that he illegally tried to obstruct the 2020 presidential election. Both cases became mired in appeals and other legal fights and were nowhere close to a trial when Trump won reelection.
Smith was appealing Cannon’s dismissal of the documents case. Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court had ruled that Trump was entitled to sweeping immunity against prosecution for official acts as president and sent the 2020 case back to a federal judge in Washington to determine how much of that indictment could go forward.
Confidential Report
Smith is required under Justice Department rules to submit a confidential report to Garland at the conclusion of his work “explaining the prosecution or declination decisions reached by the Special Counsel.”
Garland has the option of making the report public and did so with another special counsel probe that explored President Joe Biden’s handling of classified information.
Although Smith was no longer pressing charges against Trump, his office continued to appeal Cannon’s dismissal of the classified documents case against the remaining co-defendants, Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, who were accused of being part of a conspiracy with Trump to obstruct federal officials’ efforts to get the materials back. Trump is expected to direct Justice Department officials to shut down any pending aspects of the case once he takes office.
Lawyers for Nauta and De Oliveira on Monday asked Cannon to step in and block the release at least until the appeal is resolved and there’s a final judgment in the case. They also asked Cannon to stop Smith from sharing the report with anyone, including Garland.
Trump’s lawyers — who include two of his picks for top positions at the Justice Department, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove — argued in their letter to Garland that “no report should be prepared or released, and Smith should be removed, including for even suggesting that course of action given his obvious political motivations and desire to lawlessly undermine the transition.”
Lawyers for Nauta and De Oliveira also made a filing Tuesday with the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals asking for an emergency order to prevent Garland, Smith or anyone at the Justice Department from issuing the final report.
“The Final Report promises to be a one-sided, slanted report that serves a singular purpose: attempting to convince the public that everyone Smith charged is guilty of the charged crimes,” according to the filing.
A footnote in the appeals court filing says Trump will seek to participate in the motion before Cannon for an emergency injunction to stop the release of Smith’s report.
--With assistance from Chris Strohm.
(Updates with filing in appeals court.)
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