A U.S. federal judge permanently barred the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) from unveiling special counsel Jack Smith’s final report into President Donald Trump’s alleged handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving his first term.
Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon authorized the president's request to conceal the report on the investigation, which also claims that President Trump obstructed the government’s efforts to retrieve the documents.
“Special Counsel Smith, acting without lawful authority, obtained an indictment in this action and initiated proceedings that resulted in a final order of dismissal of all charges,” she wrote. “As a result, the former defendants in this case, like any other defendant in this situation, still enjoy the presumption of innocence held sacrosanct in our constitutional order.”
Additionally, Judge Cannon ruled that the report contains protected discovery material, grand jury information, and other sensitive information related to a case that was dismissed.
Smith and his team wrote a two-volume report on the classified documents probe and a separate investigation into President Trump’s alleged aims to overturn the 2020 presidential election following his loss to former President Joe Biden.
Previously, in July 2024, Cannon dropped the classified documents case, determining that Smith had been unlawfully nominated in violation of the Constitution’s Appointments Clause.
Judge Cannon wrote that the report’s release would result in a “manifest injustice” against President Trump and his two co-defendants.
“While it is true that former special counsels have released final reports at the conclusion of their work,” Cannon continued, “it appears they have done so either after electing not to bring charges at all or after adjudications of guilt by plea or trial. The Court strains to find a situation in which a former special counsel has released a report after initiating criminal charges that did not result in a finding of guilt."
