WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 – A federal judge permanently barred the Justice Department on Monday from releasing special counsel Jack Smith’s report on the classified documents case against President Donald Trump, keeping the findings sealed, Reuters reported and The Associated Press reported.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, said disclosure would be a manifest injustice because it would detail allegations in a case that never went to trial, and the order covers Trump and two former aides charged alongside him, Reuters reported and CBS News reported.
Why the report was blocked
Cannon wrote that release would contravene basic notions of fairness and the presumption of innocence because no adjudication of guilt occurred, language highlighted by Reuters and AP.
She also said Smith lacked lawful appointment authority and criticized the preparation of a final report after she dismissed the case, a point detailed by ABC News and CBS News.
Case background
Prosecutors had accused Trump of illegally retaining sensitive national defense documents at Mar-a-Lago and obstructing efforts to retrieve them, and he pleaded not guilty, according to Reuters and the BBC.
The case was dismissed in 2024 after Cannon ruled the special counsel appointment was unlawful, and it ended after Trump returned to office because Justice Department policy bars prosecuting a sitting president, AP reported and the BBC reported.
Political and legal fallout
Trump and co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira sought the order blocking release of the report’s second volume, and Cannon granted the request, Reuters reported and CBS News reported.
Watchdog groups and First Amendment advocates criticized the ruling and urged disclosure, including American Oversight and the Knight First Amendment Institute, Reuters reported and AP reported.
The decision bars Attorney General Pam Bondi and her successors from releasing that portion of the report, leaving the public record to rely on court filings and prior disclosures, CBS News reported and AP reported.
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Image: Front of Department of Justice Building by Baseball Watcher, CC BY-SA 3.0. Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 3.0. Modifications: cropped to 16:9 and resized to 1920×1080.
