Special Counsel Report on Trump Investigation Can Be Made Public, Appeals Court Rules
A federal appeals court has ruled that special counsel Jack Smith’s report on his election subversion and January 6, 2021, investigation of Donald Trump can be made public, but has left in place a three-day hold that could give Trump time to ask the Supreme Court to intervene.
Trump and his former co-defendants had asked multiple courts to block the report’s release, including its volume related to 2020 election subversion. However, the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected their request, and the Justice Department has appealed the temporary hold placed by US District Judge Aileen Cannon.
The report, which is expected to be released on January 6, covers both of Smith’s investigations, which resulted in charges. Trump has claimed that the report is “nothing less than another attempted political hit job” and that it is intended to disrupt the presidential transition and undermine his exercise of executive power.
The Justice Department has submitted the report to Attorney General Merrick Garland, who plans to release the volume on January 6 once the courts have cleared the way. However, Garland has decided not to publicly release the volume dealing with the classified documents case, citing the potential to revive criminal proceedings against Trump’s former co-defendants.
Trump’s spokesman Steven Cheung criticized the ruling, saying it “keeps Judge Cannon’s injunction in place and prevents any report from being issued. It is time for Joe Biden and Merrick Garland to do the right thing and put a final stop to the political weaponization of our Justice system.”
The report is expected to provide a final accounting of Smith’s investigations, which have been marked by controversy and legal challenges. The report could potentially provide significant new factual information, although the Justice Department has said it does not intend to release the report before Friday to give Garland time to review it.
There are other avenues by which details from the report could eventually make it into public view, including the possibility of congressional review and potential litigation.
