Trump-Appointed Federal Judge Greenlights Jan 6. Report: Could Be Made Public As Early As Tuesday

A federal judge in Florida has paved the way for the release of Special Counsel Jack Smith‘s final report on his inquiry into President-elect Donald Trump and charges alleging election interference. The report could be made public as early as Tuesday.

In the Monday announcement, reported by the Washington Post, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon authorized the Justice Department to release the first volume of Smith’s report. This decision follows her earlier temporary block on the report’s release, pending an appeals court ruling.

Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, denied motions from Trump’s former co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, who sought to prevent the report’s publication.

The Justice Department (DOJ) plans to release the first volume, focusing on the election interference investigation. Cannon said the government could not — to avoid impacting ongoing cases — release a separate volume that details Smith’s investigation into Trump’s obstruction over the mishandling of classified documents, which he took to his Florida Mar-a-Lago residence and refused to hand over to the FBI.

Smith, who led the investigations, resigned from the DOJ on Jan. 10 after submitting his final report. The DOJ’s decision to release the report comes after dropping federal cases against Trump, citing policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

Meanwhile, Trump’s legal team has argued that the special counsel’s appointment was unlawful and that releasing the report could harm his transition into the White House. They may appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to block the report’s release.

In that Trump takes office next Monday, Jan. 20, time is running out for Garland to release any part of the report.

The DOJ has been fighting in court about whether it’s permitted to publicly release Smith’s final report about his cases against Trump. Such a report is an obligatory part of the special counsel’s work and could be the last opportunity for prosecutors to explain their decisions after they dropped the federal cases against Trump following his election victory in November. 

The Washington Report noted that over the weekend, Trump’s co-defendants had asked Cannon to extend that embargo and keep Smith’s report permanently under wraps.

Justice Department lawyers appealed to the 11th Circuit seeking the green light for an earlier release, maintaining that nothing in the report would interfere with Nauta and De Oliveira’s rights.

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