Jack Smith, the special counsel, announced the indictment of former President Donald J. Trump in 2023.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
The federal judge who handled President-elect Donald J. Trump’s prosecution on charges of mishandling classified documents temporarily barred the Justice Department on Tuesday from releasing a final report about the case by the special counsel, Jack Smith.
In a brief ruling, Judge Aileen M. Cannon, a Trump appointee who dismissed the documents case in its entirety this summer, enjoined Mr. Smith from sharing his report outside the Justice Department until a federal appeals court in Atlanta, which is now considering a challenge to her dismissal, makes a decision about how to handle the report.
Mr. Smith, who also investigated Mr. Trump’s attempt to overturn his loss in the 2020 election, has said in court filings that his final report will have two volumes: one for each of the indictments he brought against the president-elect.
Judge Cannon’s order barring the release of the report did not appear to distinguish between the documents case, which she oversaw, and the election interference case, which Judge Tanya S. Chutkan heard in Washington.
Judge Cannon has a history of issuing unusual rulings in Mr. Trump’s favour. Early in the investigation that led to the documents indictment, she intervened in the case to impede the inquiry, only to be overruled by a conservative panel that sits over her, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta.
Then this summer, in a surprise decision, she threw out the documents case in its entirety, ruling against decades of precedent that Attorney General Merrick B. Garland lacked the authority to appoint Mr. Smith to his post as special counsel.
Mr. Smith quickly appealed that ruling to the 11th Circuit. And while he ultimately dropped the appeal with regard to Mr. Trump after he won the election in November, the challenge still stands where Mr. Trump’s two co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, are concerned.
Jack Smith, the special counsel, announced the indictment of former President Donald J. Trump in 2023.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
