WASHINGTON — Special Counsel Jack Smith delivered to Attorney General Merrick Garland the full final report on his two investigations that resulted in felony charges against President-elect Donald Trump, part of which Garland intends to make public pending a federal appeals court vacating the case. post. a court order imposed by a Trump-appointed judge, the Justice Department said in a document filed Wednesday.
The filing, which was made by the Justice Department separately from Smith’s office, came after Trump-appointed federal district judge Aileen Cannon temporarily blocked release of the report until three days after the Circuit 11 will rule on a pending request to block the report. Cannon is the Florida judge who dismissed the charges against Trump, relying on the argument that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional.
But the Justice Department said Wednesday that there was “no need or legal basis for a court order” on the release of the report because Garland intends to deliver to Congress only volume one, which focuses on Trump’s efforts to annul the 2020 election, “in furtherance of “The public interest is to inform an equal branch and the public about this important matter.”
Garland will not release the second volume of the report while the cases against Trump’s co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, remain pending.
“For the time being, Volume Two will be available for closed-door review only by the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, upon request and agreement not to publicly release any information from Volume Two,” Justice Department lawyers wrote. . “This limited disclosure will advance the public interest in keeping congressional leaders informed about an important matter within the Department while safeguarding the interests of the defendants.”
Justice Department lawyers asked the federal appeals court to “make clear that there is no impediment to the Attorney General allowing a limited congressional review” of the volume of the report on the classified Trump documents case, along with the public release from the volume on Trump’s election. case of interference.
The Justice Department is also asking the 11th Circuit to vacate Cannon’s temporary injunction blocking the release of any part of the report for three days following a circuit court ruling. In theory, that three-day window would give Trump time to seek Supreme Court intervention to block the release of volume one of the report. If the circuit court grants the Justice Department’s request and vacates Cannon’s order, volume one could be published any time thereafter.
Cannon has been criticized for repeatedly siding with Trump in the case, including in her decision to dismiss the charges against him. Some of those decisions, including his handling of his Florida residency registration, have been overturned, with criticism that he acted without legal basis.
