A federal appeals court has ruled against a request to prevent the public release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report concerning former President Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the urgent appeal aimed at keeping the report private, which is anticipated to contain damaging information about Trump’s unsuccessful efforts to retain power after his defeat to President Joe Biden.
In contrast, a separate portion of the same special counsel report addressing Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate will remain sealed during the ongoing legal proceedings involving two of Trump’s co-defendants, according to the Justice Department.
Despite the appeals court’s decision, the report regarding election interference will not be released immediately, and further legal challenges are anticipated. A prior ruling by Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has temporarily barred the Justice Department from making the report public for an additional three days.
Defendants may request Judge Cannon to evaluate their appeal against the report, a topic she did not address when she initially approved their emergency request. They might also seek intervention from the Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority.
A spokesperson for Trump criticized Smith’s report as “an unconstitutional, one-sided, falsehood-ridden screed.”
In a post-ruling statement, spokesperson Steven Cheung urged President Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland to take action to end what he termed the political misuse of the justice system.
The two-part report is projected to outline findings and rationale pertaining to Smith’s investigations, although it is uncertain whether it will reveal significant new details due to the comprehensive information that has already emerged from various indictments related to Trump.
Smith’s investigations were halted in November following Trump’s election victory, due to a Justice Department policy that bars federal prosecutions of current presidents. Cannon previously dismissed the case against Trump over his alleged classified document retention, asserting that Smith’s appointment was unlawful. However, Smith’s appeal regarding charges against co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, accused alongside Trump of obstruction in the investigation, remains in effect. Their legal team argued this week that releasing the report while their case is ongoing would create bias and inequity.
The Justice Department’s choice to keep the section of the report focusing on the classified documents private diminishes the chances that it will ever be made public. The expectation is that the previous Justice Department under Trump will likely refrain from releasing the document even after the case against Nauta and De Oliveira concludes.
Significantly, the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity has limited the scope of the election interference case. The court established that former presidents enjoy extensive immunity from prosecution, which effectively hampers the likelihood of Trump facing trial before the upcoming November election.
According to Justice Department guidelines, special counsels are required to submit a confidential report at the end of their investigations. The attorney general has discretion over what information is released to the public.
Attorney General Merrick Garland has previously released the full reports produced by special counsels under his supervision, including Robert Hur’s findings on President Biden’s treatment of classified materials and John Durham’s investigation into Russian election interference.
