The U.S. Department of Justice has announced plans to release findings from Special Counsel Jack Smith regarding former President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. However, other parts of the report will remain confidential for now.
This decision was disclosed in a court filing on Wednesday to a federal appellate court reviewing a request by defense attorneys to block the release of the two-volume report while charges remain pending against two other defendants in the case related to Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Partial Report to Be Released Amid Legal Disputes
Judge Aileen Cannon, appointed by Trump and overseeing the classified documents case, granted a temporary halt on Tuesday to releasing the report. The Department of Justice has stated its intent to proceed with publishing the portion related to election interference but will reserve the classified documents section for Congressional Judiciary Committee leaders until the case involving the two other defendants is resolved.
It is still unclear when the election interference portion of the report will be made public.
Justice Department’s Position
The DOJ argued in its filing to the Atlanta Court of Appeals that Special Counsel Smith has clear authority to release the election interference findings. It added that the defendants in the classified documents case, two Mar-a-Lago employees, have no legal basis to block the release of an unrelated part of the report.
The report is expected to detail findings and charging decisions from Smith’s two investigations. The investigation into classified documents was previously dismissed in July by Judge Cannon, who ruled that Smith’s appointment was unlawful.
Special Counsel Smith’s team dropped both cases in November following Trump’s electoral victory, citing a long-standing DOJ policy that sitting presidents cannot be subjected to federal investigations.
