01/07/2025

Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Report on Trump Classified-documents Probe

The president-elect appointed the judge during his first term

The federal judge in Florida who dismissed the case against Donald Trump over his alleged mishandling of classified documents has temporarily blocked the Department of Justice from releasing a report detailing the findings of that investigation by special counsel Jack Smith.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon barred Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland from “releasing, sharing, or transmitting” the long-awaited report or any drafts or conclusions from it while a federal appeals court in Atlanta weighs an emergency motion from two of the president-elect's former co-defendants. The co-defendants said releasing the report would unfairly prejudice them. Their motion cited a letter from Trump's attorneys that also argued that the release of Smith’s findings was not in the public interest and would interfere with his presidency and his presidential transition.

Earlier Tuesday, Smiths' office told the court that Garland might not make the classified documents part of the report public. The report is two volumes. One volume details prosecutors' findings in the classified documents case, and the other focuses on the investigation into Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.