WASHINGTON – A First Amendment advocacy group alongside a watchdog organization has approached a federal appeals court, urging the release of a Justice Department special counsel’s report pertaining to the criminal investigation into President Donald Trump’s management of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property.
Despite charges against the former Republican president being dropped last year, special counsel Jack Smith’s comprehensive report concerning the classified documents case remains confidential due to an order from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon. Trump was accused of keeping classified papers at his Florida residence and obstructing efforts to reclaim them, but Judge Cannon deemed Smith’s appointment unlawful and dismissed the charges.
The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and American Oversight have filed requests with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, urging the report’s disclosure. The institutions insist there is no genuine justification for hiding the report that stems from what was widely viewed as the most critical legal challenge Trump faced prior to his attempt at a White House comeback.
“Transparency is essential in a democracy. The public deserves to be informed about Special Counsel Smith’s findings, and the Justice Department cannot withhold this report, which should have been disclosed almost a year ago under federal law,” stated Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight. “By maintaining this order, Judge Cannon is hindering both accountability and the rule of law.”
Judge Cannon, a Trump appointee, prevented the Justice Department in January from submitting the documentation concerning the classified documents case to Congress after defense attorneys claimed it would be biased and prejudicial. At that point, appeals were still pending against Trump’s associates — Trump aide Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property overseer Carlos De Oliveira — though the Justice Department has since dropped those legal actions too.
In February, the Knight Institute requested Judge Cannon to allow the report’s release, but she has not made a decision. The institute is now appealing for the higher court to compel Judge Cannon to decide, deeming her delay “manifestly unreasonable.”
“This report is of singular importance to the public because it addresses allegations of grave criminal conduct by the nation’s highest-ranking official,” said Jameel Jaffer, executive director of Knight Institute, said in a statement. “There is no legitimate reason for the report’s continued suppression, and it should be posted on the court’s public docket without further delay.”
The classified documents case had been seen as the most legally clear-cut of the four Trump had faced, given the breadth of evidence that prosecutors say they had accumulated, including the testimony of close aides and former lawyers, and because the conduct at issue occurred after Trump left the White House in 2021 and lost the powers of the presidency.
Trump had denied any wrongdoing and criticized all the cases against him as a politically motivated attempt to thwart his bid to return to the White House.
The first volume of Smith’s report — focused on Trump’s 2020 election interference case — was publicly released in January. In that portion of the report, Smith defended his decision to bring criminal charges over Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and said he believed it would have resulted in a conviction had voters not returned Trump to the White House.
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