The Atlanta-based 11th Circuit Federal Appeals Court has dismissed a plea to prevent the public access to sections of a final report by special counsel Jack Smith. The report is related to his investigation and subsequent prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump, based on alleged schemes to obstruct the power transition after the 2020 election.
The court denied the petition of Walt Nauta, Trump’s aide, and Carlos de Oliveira, ex-property manager of Mar-a-Lago. Both were accused of allegedly interfering with a separate federal probe into Trump’s management of sensitive government documents.
In late November, the 11th Circuit accepted Smith’s request to exclude Trump from the lawsuit after his re-election, due to a Justice Department policy that prohibits the prosecution of a current president. However, federal prosecutors are proceeding with the appeal against a lower court’s decision to drop the charges against Nauta and de Oliveira, arguing that Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional.
Smith’s final report, submitted to Attorney General Merrick Garland, includes two volumes detailing his investigations into Trump. The first volume is connected to the prosecution resulting from the 2020 election, while the second deals with Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents post his 2020 term.
Garland has committed to making public all special counsel reports concluded during his tenure as the Attorney General. So far, he has upheld this commitment, including releasing reports about President Biden’s handling of classified documents.
Defense lawyers for Nauta and de Oliveira have sought to prevent the public release of Smith’s report, arguing potential prejudice in future legal proceedings against them. They have requested both the 11th Circuit and U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who presided over the document case, to stop the Justice Department from releasing the report.
Cannon temporarily blocked the release of the report until the 11th Circuit could make a final decision. However, the Justice Department has since appealed this injunction, which will also proceed to the 11th Circuit.
In its filings with the 11th Circuit, the Justice Department requested the court to reject Nauta and de Oliveira’s plea to keep the report confidential. However, it stated Garland would not release the part related to the classified documents case while proceedings against the two co-defendants continue.
Attorneys for the president-elect urged Garland in a letter to dismiss Smith from his role as special counsel and halt the report’s preparation and dissemination. The attorney general, however, intends to make the first volume of Smith’s report public and provide a redacted version of the second volume to the senior lawmakers of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, on condition of confidentiality.
Meanwhile, Trump’s lawyers submitted a friend-of-the-court brief urging the court to block the release of Smith’s report, claiming it as a political move aiming to disrupt the presidential transition and undermine Trump’s executive power.
