WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� A federal judge on Monday permanently barred the release of a report by special counsel Jack Smith on his investigation into President Donald Trump鈥檚 , a prosecution that was once seen as the most perilous of
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, granted a request from the president to keep under wraps the report on an investigation alleging that Trump stored after he left the White House following his first term and that he obstructed government efforts to get them back.
Smith and his team produced a two-volume report on the classified documents investigation and a separate probe into after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Both investigations produced indictments that were after Trump鈥檚 November 2024 election win in light of longstanding Justice Department legal opinions that say sitting presidents cannot face federal prosecution.
Attorney General Pam Bondi that the report was 鈥渁n internal deliberative communication that is privileged and confidential and should not be released鈥� outside the Justice Department, according to court papers. The Trump administration has characterized Smith’s investigation as politically motivated and said in recent court papers that the report belongs in the 鈥渄ustbin of history.”
Cannon’s order blocking the release also applies to Bondi’s successors at the Justice Department. Cannon, who in 2024 dismissed the case after concluding that Smith was unlawfully appointed after multiple other favorable rulings for Trump, said the release of the report would present a 鈥渕anifest injustice鈥� to the president and his two co-defendants.
鈥淪pecial Counsel Smith, acting without lawful authority, obtained an indictment in this action and initiated proceedings that resulted in a final order of dismissal of all charges,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淎s a result, the former defendants in this case, like any other defendant in this situation, still enjoy the presumption of innocence held sacrosanct in our constitutional order.鈥�
A First Amendment group and a watchdog organization have been pressing for the report’s release.
Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, said it “will continue using every tool available to force this information into the open and to defend the public鈥檚 right to the truth through the release of this report.鈥�
Scott Wilkens, senior counsel at The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University 鈥� another group pushing for the report’s public release 鈥� said 鈥渢here is no legitimate basis for its continued suppression.鈥�
鈥淛udge Cannon鈥檚 decision to permanently block the release of this extraordinarily significant report is impossible to square with the First Amendment and the common law,鈥� Wilkens said in an emailed statement.
A lawyer for Trump, Kendra Wharton, praised Cannon’s ruling, saying in a statement that Smith was unconstitutionally appointed and that his report 鈥渟hould never see the light of day.鈥�
Cannon wrote that though it is true that special counsels have historically released reports at the conclusion of their work, they have done so either after electing not to bring charges in a particular case or 鈥渁fter adjudications of guilt by plea or trial.” Though Cannon suggested that an adjudication of guilt typically precedes the release of a special counsel report, there have been instances in which defendants charged by a special counsel have been acquitted at trial and the allegations against them have nonetheless been subsequently rehashed in a publicly released report.
The classified documents case was once considered the most serious of the four criminal cases against him. It accused Trump of repeatedly enlisting aides and lawyers to help him hide records demanded by investigators and cavalierly showing off a Pentagon 鈥減lan of attack鈥� and classified map.
The first volume of Smith鈥檚 report on Trump鈥檚 2020 election interference case . Smith has defended his decision to bring those charges, saying he believes they would have resulted in a conviction had voters not elected Trump in 2024.
Cannon last year granted a defense request to at least temporarily halt the release of the report dealing with the classified documents case. That edict meant that Smith could not discuss the substance of that investigation before the House Judiciary Committee.
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