Court rulings or official announcements

Justice Department to Release Jack Smith's Report on Trump's Election Interference, Withhold Classified Documents Section

Jan 8, 2025, 04:13 PM

The Justice Department has announced plans to release the findings of special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into former President Donald Trump's efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election. However, the rest of the report, which focuses on Trump's handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, will be withheld for now. This decision was disclosed in a filing to a federal appeals court, which is currently considering a defense request to block the release of the full report while charges against Trump's co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, remain pending. The Justice Department intends to make the classified documents section available only to the chairmen and ranking members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees for private review, as long as the case against Trump's co-defendants is ongoing. The filing argues that the attorney general has clear authority to release the election interference section of the report, and it seeks to reverse a temporary block on the report's release issued by Judge Aileen Cannon.