A federal judge has cleared volume one of Jack Smith’s report on investigations into Trump for release, but blocked volume two pending legal review.
A federal judge has cleared the way for the public release of volume one of special counsel Jack Smith’s final report on investigations involving President-elect Donald Trump while opting to keep volume two of the report restricted.
Volume one pertains to Smith’s election interference case against Trump, while volume two relates to the classified documents case.
In a Jan. 13 order, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon partially denied an emergency motion by two Trump co-defendants—Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira—to block the public release of the report. Nauta and De Oliveira had filed an emergency motion seeking to prevent the release of both volumes of Smith’s report, citing concerns that it would prejudice their pretrial rights.
Cannon upheld their request to restrict volume two—pertaining to a classified documents probe involving Trump in which Nauta and De Oliveira are co-defendants. The judge noted that release of volume two would be “inconsistent” with the defendants’ right to a fair trial.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) had argued that selective release of volume two to congressional leaders was in the public interest but stopped short of advocating for broader dissemination. Nauta and De Oliveira had argued that releasing the volume, even in a limited capacity, could irreparably damage their legal standing.
Cannon scheduled a hearing for Jan. 17 to address the DOJ’s request for limited disclosure of volume two to congressional leaders while withholding it from the public.
“Release of Volume II, even on a limited basis as promised by the United States, risks irreversibly and substantially impairing the legal rights of Defendants in this criminal proceeding,” Cannon wrote. “The Court is not willing to make that gamble on the basis of generalized interest by members of Congress, at least not without full briefing and a hearing on the subject.”
The judge noted that a portion of the hearing may need to be conducted under seal to prevent parts of volume two from being disseminated to the public.
By Tom Ozimek
