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Donald Trump is asking a federal judge to block the Justice Department from releasing Jack Smith’s report on the president’s alleged hoarding of government documents and classified materials at Mar-a-Lago.
The president filed a motion on Tuesday arguing for the release of former special prosecutor”The “inherently biased” report will “irreparably harm” the president and his former co-defendants.
Florida District Judge Aileen Cannon – Trump appointee dismiss case Fighting the President in 2024— blocked before The Justice Department was prohibited from sharing a redacted version of the Mar-a-Lago report with members of Congress to ensure that Smith’s final report would not be released within his first few months back in office.
A judge will now decide whether the report can be released.
A 2023 grand jury indictment accused Trump of mishandling a trove of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and conspiring to thwart efforts by federal authorities to retrieve the documents after leaving the White House at the end of his first term.
Photos show Trump faces 40 separate charges over accusations of withholding hundreds of documents, some of which were photographed hidden in boxes in a bathroom at Mar-a-Lago.
Judge Cannon ultimately dismissed the case after agreeing with Trump’s lawyers that the appointment and funding of the special counsel was unconstitutional. Smith’s team appealed the decision, but After Trump won the 2024 presidential election, he dropped the case entirely.
The first volume of Smith’s investigation into Trump was released days before the president returns to office, detailing his investigation Attempts to Overturn the 2020 Election Results Failure to stop rioters from ransacking the halls of Congress and looting with force.
But the second volume of Smith’s Mar-a-Lago case remains under wraps.
Cannon’s 93-page order dismissing the case made no mention of charges or evidence, focusing only on Trump’s contention that the special counsel illegally held the position.
The president’s lawyers wrote that releasing the report would “improperly sanction and give legal effect to Smith’s unlawful investigation and prosecution” and “cause irreparable harm” to Trump and his former co-defendants.
Lawyers wrote that because Trump is a former defendant, he “undoubtedly has a direct, substantial and compelling interest” in blocking the report’s release.
The filing said the release of the book would “improperly sanction and give legal effect to Smith’s unlawful investigation and prosecution” and would “irreparably harm” Trump and his former co-defendants.
“The court has correctly ruled that Smith was an unconstitutionally appointed and funded official who could not and did not lawfully exercise executive authority,” the attorneys wrote. “The appropriate remedy is to make all of Smith’s [acts]including the second volume which he subsequently prepared and submitted. “
Lawyers said the report was “inherently biased and one-sided” and reflected “the opinions of an unconstitutionally appointed and funded federal official” who relied on “illegally obtained” evidence to serve “political purposes.”
The Trump campaign said Trump and his former co-defendants no longer have access to materials in the case, creating a “fundamentally unfair situation” while First Amendment groups and members of Congress seek court permission to release Smith’s report.
The attorneys said that if the materials were released publicly, Smith and Trump’s political opponents would be able to “make the reported allegations public, thereby giving them baseless credibility and leaving the individuals against whom they were targeted unable to defend Smith’s false and baseless attacks.”
in his Explosive closed-door testimony to lawmakers last yearSmith said his investigation “proves beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal plan to overturn the results of the 2020 election and prevent the lawful transfer of power.”
“President Trump is very much The chief culprit and the person most responsible for this conspiracy“, he said. “These crimes were committed for his benefit. The attack on the Capitol was part of this case and wouldn’t have happened without him. “
Smith told lawmakers that Trump “caused” the violent attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and “exploited the event.”
Smith is scheduled to testify publicly about Trump’s alleged crimes before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, January 22.