A federal judge on Monday blocked the release of a report by former special counsel Jack Smith regarding US President Donald Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified government documents.
District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed the documents case against Trump in July 2024, ruling that Smith was unlawfully appointed. The Justice Department initially appealed Cannon’s decision but later dropped the case after Trump won the November 2024 presidential election.
Trump was also previously accused of plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. That case was also dropped by Smith, in line with Justice Department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.
On Monday, Cannon granted a motion filed by Trump and two co-defendants seeking to block the public release of Smith’s investigative report into the classified documents case. The judge cited fairness and the presumption of innocence as key reasons for her decision.
“Disclosure of non-public discovery material… would contravene basic notions of fairness and justice,” Cannon wrote. “The former defendants in this case, like any other defendant in this situation, still enjoy the presumption of innocence. The Court strains to find a situation in which a former special counsel has released a report after initiating criminal charges that did not result in a finding of guilt,” she added.
Trump had been accused by Smith of stashing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida after leaving the White House in January 2021 and obstructing efforts to have them returned. Trump has denied the allegations.
