Staff Reports
Special Counsel Jack Smith experienced a nightmare course in legal misfortune thanks to U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, who earlier this year made headlines with a ruling that stripped Smith of the rights to prosecute President-elect Donald Trump. When it comes to legal authority, it seems Smith was left holding an empty bag; Cannon made it clear that she wasn’t going to let the progressive agenda run wild in her courtroom.
This week, Cannon once again caught everyone off guard by blocking Smith from releasing a report that appears destined to be nothing more than a political hatchet job aimed at Trump. The judge’s temporary injunction prohibits any sharing of the report or its contents outside the confines of the Department of Justice. It’s a move that puts a stop to what could have been a damaging document falling into the hands of those with dubious intentions, otherwise known as the mainstream media.
Judge Aileen Cannon, in a surprise move, blocked Special Counsel Jack Smith from releasing his final report on President Trump while the appeals court considers a challenge. https://t.co/oOC8BY5luV
— The New York Sun (@NewYorkSun) January 7, 2025
Trump’s legal team didn’t sit idly by while Smith tried to pull this stunt. They filed an emergency motion, arguing that the report would inflict irreversible harm, not just on Trump but also on his associates, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira. Nauta, a Navy veteran and Trump’s former valet, along with Oliveira, the property manager at Mar-a-Lago, have already felt the sting of Smith’s aggressive tactics, which seemed more about scoring political points than seeking justice.
The government’s legal gymnastics were aptly labeled by Trump’s team as “political lawfare,” describing how the impending report’s reveal would play out like a poorly scripted political drama. It was noted that the so-called Final Report was based on materials that Smith, due to his disqualification as a special counsel, no longer had the right to access. This made Smith’s attempt to throw the report publically seem not only improper but downright desperate.
In an interesting twist of fate, while Cannon has delivered a firm rebuke to Smith’s efforts, the beleaguered special counsel found a different response in Washington, D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. Just weeks before the election, Chutkan unsealed a lengthy motion from Smith filled with allegations against Trump that hadn’t yet been tested in a court of law. Smith’s team, meanwhile, insisted that their flawed document wasn’t designed to sway voters, a claim that would be easier to swallow if it weren’t so transparently timed with the upcoming elections.
As if things couldn’t get more convoluted, there are reports that Attorney General Merrick Garland is now at the forefront of pushing to have parts of Smith’s report released before Biden’s term begins. DOJ lawyers are arguing in the 11th Circuit that Cannon’s injunction should be lifted, particularly concerning Volume One of Smith’s report, which addresses Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. The catch? Garland doesn’t want the second volume released, which deals with the classified documents case—the hottest potato in Trump’s legal saga. The drama continues, with the stakes higher than ever, as legal battles reveal just how far some are willing to go in their quest to take down a political adversary.
