Judge permanently blocks release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on classified Trump documents issue

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Monday permanently blocked the release of a report by special counsel Jack Smith on his investigation into President Donald Trump’s hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home.

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US District Judge Eileen Cannon, nominated by Trump, granted a request from the Republican president to keep secret the report on a criminal investigation that was once seen as posing a significant legal risk to Trump.

Smith and his team issued a two-volume report on investigations into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election after his loss to Joe Biden and his keeping secret documents at his home in Palm Beach, Florida, after leaving the White House after his first term.

Both investigations produced indictments that Smith’s team abandoned after Trump won the election in November 2024 in light of longtime Justice Department legal opinions that sitting presidents cannot face federal prosecution.

Cannon, who dismissed the case in 2024 after concluding that Smith’s appointment was illegal, said publishing the report would represent a “clear injustice” to Trump and his co-defendants.

“Special Counsel Smith, acting without lawful authority, obtained an indictment in this action and initiated proceedings that resulted in a final order dismissing all charges,” she wrote. “As a result, the former defendants in this case, like every other defendant in this case, continue to enjoy the presumption of innocence that is held sacred in our constitutional system.”

She said that although it is true that private investigators issued reports at the end of their work, they did so either after choosing not to press charges in a particular case or “after adjudications of guilt by plea or trial.”

“The Court strives to find a situation in which a former special counsel issued a report after criminal charges were brought that did not result in a conviction, at least not in a situation like this, where the defendants have disputed the charges from the beginning and still proclaim their innocence.”