Federal Judge Issues Temporary Block on Release of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Classified Documents Report

January 7, 2025 TruthUSA

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon issued an order preventing the release of the special counsel’s final report regarding Trump, while awaiting a ruling from an appellate court.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Tuesday issued a ruling to block the release of the special counsel’s final report related to President-elect Donald Trump, pending an appellate court decision.

This order prohibits special counsel Jack Smith and the Department of Justice (DOJ) from issuing the report until the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has considered a motion filed by Trump’s co-defendants.

According to the order, “Pending the resolution of the Emergency Motion filed in the Eleventh Circuit … Attorney General Garland, the Department of Justice, Special Counsel Smith, along with all of their officers, agents, and employees, and anyone acting in concert with those individuals are temporarily enjoined” from releasing or disseminating the final report.

This week, co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira petitioned Cannon to halt the release of Smith’s report concerning the classified documents case, where Trump is accused of unlawfully retaining sensitive materials post-presidency, and Nauta and De Oliveira face allegations of obstruction-related offenses. Trump and his co-defendants have entered not guilty pleas to these charges.

The release of Smith’s report, the two defendants argued to Cannon, “would directly violate Nauta’s and De Oliveira’s Fifth Amendment due process rights, functioning as a public form of an illegitimate new indictment filled with unjustly prejudicial claims of alleged crimes that extend far beyond the allegations within the indictment and other public records.”

This is a developing story, and additional information will follow shortly.