Defendants asked that the report not be made public while their case is ongoing.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon blocked the release of the second volume of former special counsel Jack Smith’s report on now-President Donald Trump’s classified documents case.
Cannon sided with an emergency motion brought forward by Trump’s co-defendants, Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliviera, to prevent the report from being released until all matters concerning the criminal case were concluded.
Cannon previously dismissed the case, ruling Smith’s appointment a violation of the appointments clause, and the indictment against Trump was dismissed after his election victory. However, her ruling was quickly appealed and is still waiting for an appeal concerning Nauta and De Oliviera.
The appeal means that the case is still ongoing, and the defendants argued that the release of information concerning their case, much of which has not been made public, could cause harm and prejudice.
Cannon voiced her agreement with the defense.
“Never before has the Department of Justice, prior to the conclusion of criminal proceedings against a defendant—and absent a litigation-specific reason as appropriate in the case itself—sought to disclose outside the Department a report prepared by a Special Counsel containing sub-stantive and voluminous case information. Until now,” Cannon notes in her ruling.
This story will be updated with more information.
By T.J. Muscaro
