Donald Trump presses to block release of DOJ Special Counsel report

Special Counsel Smith hasn't announced when he intends to finish his work, but it's expected to happen before Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration

By Zoe Tillman

 

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,” according to a new court filing. 

The filing Monday 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 and that Trump’s lawyers and other defense attorneys were allowed to read a copy. 

 

Smith hasn’t announced when he intends to finish his work, but it’s expected to happen before Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

 

Trump is no longer a defendant in the Florida case, which accused him of mishandling national security information and obstructing a government investigation. Smith ended both cases against the former president after the election, citing longstanding Justice Department policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.

 

Lawyers for Trump’s former co-defendants in one of the prosecutions brought by Smith’s team filed the latest court papers asking a Florida federal judge to issue an emergency order that would bar Attorney General Merrick Garland, who is set to decide whether to disclose the report, or any other Justice Department official, from releasing it to the public. They wrote that there was “reason to believe” the report would come out “within the next few days.”

 

Trump’s Lawyers

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 didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

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 features two volumes and that it alleges that Trump 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 re-election in November.

 

Smith was appealing US District Judge Aileen Cannon’s dismissal of the documents case on the grounds that Smith’s appointment and funding were unconstitutional. 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 still expected to submit a final report on his work to Garland. 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 — which 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.”