A prolonged period of inaction by Judge Aileen Cannon concerning motions related to former special counsel Jack Smith’s Mar-a-Lago classified documents report involving President Donald Trump has prompted the appellate court to subtly reprimand her for “undue delay.” This has effectively put the judge, who previously dismissed the prosecution, under pressure to expedite her decision-making process.

On Monday, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals acknowledged the petitions for writs of mandamus filed by the Knight First Amendment Institute and American Oversight. These petitions sought judicial intervention due to the delay.

The panel, consisting of U.S. Circuit Judges Jill Pryor, appointed by Barack Obama, Britt Grant, appointed by Donald Trump, and Nancy Abudu, appointed by Joe Biden, refrained from granting this extraordinary relief immediately. However, they indicated that if Judge Cannon fails to resolve the long-pending motions to intervene within a 60-day timeframe, they might be compelled to take further action.

The panel’s order began by addressing the petitions for writs of mandamus. These petitions relate to the petitioners’ efforts to intervene and challenge the district court’s January 21, 2025, order that prevents the release of Volume II of the Special Counsel’s Final Report. The petitioners initially sought intervention in February, with a reminder to Cannon in July after a three-month silence, and eventually escalated the matter to the appellate court in late September.

As of November, the 11th Circuit noted that Judge Cannon “has not ruled or conducted any other further proceedings on the pending motions,” leading American Oversight and the Knight Institute to establish that there has been an “undue delay” in resolving their motions to intervene.

The appellate court has now given Cannon a 60-day deadline to act, suggesting that if she does not comply, they may issue a mandamus order to compel her action.

“[T]he petitions for writs of mandamus are held in abeyance for a period of 60 days to allow the district court to fully resolve the motions,” the order concluded.

As Law&Crime reported previously, both the Knight Institute and American Oversight went to the 11th Circuit in the hopes that Cannon would, one way or another, be prompted to rule on whether or not to lift a January injunction, to at least have something to appeal.

Cannon, a Trump appointee, threw out the president’s case in July 2024 and invalidated Smith’s appointment as special counsel, and then, several months later, blocked the release of Smith’s Mar-a-Lago report.

When Cannon initially issued the injunction in January, she noted that Trump valet Waltine Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira still had an active appeal at the 11th Circuit and that, as a result, releasing Volume II publicly would jeopardize their “due process rights to a fair trial[.]”

After Trump was in office again, the DOJ dismissed the cases against the president’s erstwhile co-defendants Nauta and de Oliveira, leading the two nonprofit groups to push for the report’s release. Despite the groups’ motions to intervene and despite their separate reminders for Cannon to issue a ruling, given that the Nauta and de Oliveira cases were over, no ruling came.

Now that the 11th Circuit has nudged Cannon to get it over with, the petitioners are hopeful that the public may soon learn more about Trump’s alleged “grave criminal conduct.”

“We’re pleased that today’s order recognizes that there is no legitimate reason for the court’s months-long delay in ruling on our request to make the special counsel’s report public,” Knight Institute senior counsel Scott Wilkins said in a statement. “This report is of singular importance to the public because it addresses allegations of grave criminal conduct by the nation’s highest-ranking official, and should be made public without further delay.”