Judge Issues Permanent Bar on Release of Special Counsel Report in Donald Trump Classified Documents Case

A United States judge has permanently barred the Justice Department from releasing a prosecutor’s report linked to the criminal case accusing former President Donald Trump of unlawfully retaining classified documents after his first term in office.

 

In a ruling on Monday, Florida-based US District Judge Aileen Cannon concluded that making the report public would amount to a “manifest injustice” to Trump and two former associates who were charged alongside him. She noted that the document would outline substantial allegations of criminal wrongdoing in a case that never proceeded to a jury.

 

Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by Trump in 2020, dismissed all charges in 2024.

 

The case, brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, accused Trump of illegally storing documents related to U.S. national defence — including material concerning the American nuclear programme — at his Mar-a-Lago social club. Prosecutors had also alleged he obstructed government efforts to recover the documents.

 

However, Cannon ruled that Smith had not been lawfully appointed by the Justice Department during the administration of former Democratic President Joe Biden.

 

In her latest order, Cannon wrote that disclosure of Smith’s report “would contravene basic notions of fairness and justice in the process, where no adjudication of guilt has been reached following initiation of criminal charges”.

 

The decision means substantial information about one of the four criminal cases Trump faced after leaving office will remain out of public view.

 

Trump’s attorney, Kendra Wharton, welcomed the ruling, saying that “any and all fruit of Smith’s poisonous tree” should “never see the light of day”.

 

Trump and his two co-defendants — personal aide Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago manager Carlos de Oliveira — had pleaded not guilty and argued the prosecution was politically motivated. They had urged the court to block release of the report, which sets out Smith’s reasoning for bringing charges.

 

The Justice Department under Trump supported that position, maintaining the report was a confidential document.

 

Critics, however, condemned the ruling. Chioma Chukwu, executive director of the government accountability group American Oversight, said the decision continued “a troubling pattern” that shields the president from public scrutiny and prioritises secrecy over the public’s right to know.

 

The Justice Department under Biden had earlier dropped efforts to revive the documents case after Trump won the 2024 election.

 

Special counsels — appointed to handle politically sensitive investigations — are typically required to submit reports to the U.S. attorney general explaining their decisions on whether to pursue charges.

 

Shortly before Trump returned to the presidency 13 months ago, the department released Smith’s report in a separate, since-dismissed case accusing Trump of attempting to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election.

 

Cannon had previously blocked disclosure of the documents-case report to Congress, citing the then-pending proceedings against Nauta and de Oliveira. Prosecutors later dropped those charges after Trump returned to office last year.

 

In Monday’s ruling, Cannon also pointed to concerns about revealing confidential grand jury material and said Smith’s preparation of the report circumvented her earlier finding that he had been unlawfully appointed.

 

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