DOJ Requests Court to Expedite Release of Special Counsel’s Report on Trump

January 10, 2025 TruthUSA

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking to expedite the release of a report concerning special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President-elect Donald Trump.

In a filing submitted on January 10, DOJ officials stated that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit should lift a lower court’s order that bars the release of the report for three days.

“The United States respectfully reiterates its request for this Court to vacate the district court’s temporary injunction. After thoroughly considering the defendants’ fully briefed motion and related amicus briefs, this Court determined that the defendants’ motion for injunctive relief should be denied. For the same reasons, the district court made an error in granting the same injunction,” officials asserted.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon issued the order in question on January 7, which prevented the DOJ from releasing the report or sharing it with individuals outside the DOJ for three days, until the 11th Circuit addressed an emergency motion filed by Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, who faced charges alongside Trump.

Though prosecutors have dismissed charges against Trump following his 2024 election victory, they continue to pursue Nauta and De Oliveira, who urged the courts to block the DOJ from releasing Smith’s report, noting Cannon’s previous determination that Smith was unconstitutionally appointed.

Smith has already submitted the report to Attorney General Merrick Garland, and U.S. officials contended that courts lack the authority to prevent Garland from making the report public. They mentioned that for the time being, only part one—related to Trump—would be made public, while they aim to share part two, concerning Nauta and De Oliveira, with congressional members.

The 11th Circuit dismissed the emergency motion on Thursday, while simultaneously directing U.S. officials to file a notice of appeal regarding Cannon’s order.

In their appeal, DOJ attorneys asserted that Cannon “lacked a legitimate reason for preventing the Attorney General from making Volume Two accessible for in camera review by the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, under restrictions to ensure confidentiality and subject to redactions protecting information under Rule 6(e) and court orders.”

They continued, “Furthermore, the district court had no basis whatsoever for prohibiting the public release of Volume One, which pertains to a prosecution unrelated to the defendants, and in any case, the defendants have not provided any plausible grounds for an injunction.”

Officials emphasized that the 11th Circuit should promptly vacate Cannon’s order to facilitate the release of part one.

Trump is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 20. His legal team previously claimed that Smith’s report is a “political hit job” and asked the court to prevent its release in an amicus brief.

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