Staff Reports
Special counsel Jack Smith has delivered his grand finale to Attorney General Merrick Garland, packing his virtual bags and heading for the exit of the Department of Justice. Meanwhile, whether or not the American public will actually get to see what Smith has written remains as murky as a politician’s promise. It appears that the fate of his report now lies in the hands of Judge Aileen Cannon and the busy folks at the 11th Circuit Court, who are apparently keen to sort through the legal tangle created by President-elect Donald Trump and his fellow defendants in Florida. They are arguing vigorously that the report should remain sealed tighter than a drum.
Smith’s report is divided into two volumes, each dissecting one of the two criminal cases initiated against Trump. The first volume focuses on the January 6 case, where Smith ran into a surprising wall—DOJ policy mandates that sitting presidents can’t be prosecuted. A rather timely election win for Trump, wouldn’t you say? So, as it turns out, Smith had to fold his cards and return to the drawing board. The second volume, however, doesn’t hold Trump to account but rather zeroes in on his co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira in the classified documents case—a situation Smith ultimately decided not to pursue against the former president.
Jack Smith just resigned. So ends one of the most controversial and star-crossed investigations in history. https://t.co/4B0SXG1sjR
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) January 11, 2025
Both Nauta and De Oliveira have turned to Cannon, the Trump-appointed judge, pleading for her help to keep the whole shebang under wraps. They argue that making the report public would jeopardize their ongoing legal battles. Not one to miss an opportunity, Trump has jumped into this ring of legal back-and-forth with an amicus brief backing their request. And why wouldn’t he? It’s not every day you dance with a judge after your own appointment.
Garland, however, has other plans. He seems determined to publicly unveil the first volume while keeping the second one hidden away, like a secret family recipe. His intent is to allow only select Republicans and Democrats on the judiciary committee a glimpse. Judge Cannon has put a temporary brake on Garland’s aspirations, clouding the horizon with uncertainty while she contemplates the implications of releasing the report. If one thing is for sure, it’s that neither report will slip through the cracks any time soon unless she gets her act together before Trump steps into his new role.
In a twist that might make for a gripping courtroom drama, prosecutors have argued to Cannon that the first volume’s relevance to Nauta and De Oliveira is akin to comparing apples to oranges. They noted that the classified documents case was hardly discussed, with just two mentions, and insisted the report doesn’t contain anything that implicates the defendants. Their appeal to the 11th Circuit mirrors this sentiment, hoping the appellate judges will scramble to overrule Cannon’s temporary injunction and allow sunlight to shine on the now-outdated cases.
On the other side of the courtroom, Trump’s legal team has been breathing fire over the potential public release of the report. They recently had a chance to get a sneak peek and are now bracing themselves for a media showdown that would make any sensationalist headline writer drool. They argued that such a release would trigger a storm of unfair criticism that could overshadow Trump’s transition. Adding fuel to the fire, they reminded everyone that Cannon previously dismissed all charges related to classified documents against Trump and co-defendants, based on the belief that Smith’s special counsel appointment sailed past constitutional norms. As if that weren’t enough, Trump’s attorneys have called Smith’s report a “partisan weapon,” complete with baseless attacks meant to stifle Trump’s incoming administration. If anything deserves to be called a political stunt, it may just be the production of this report.
