By Steve Neavling
The Justice Department filed an urgent motion late Friday, seeking the swift release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on President-elect Donald Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The request comes as time runs short before the Republican is set to return to the White House.
This development follows a ruling on Thursday by a federal appeals court in Atlanta, which allowed the report to move forward but maintained a temporary block on its public release until at least Sunday. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had initially barred the report’s publication, a decision the Justice Department criticized in its latest filing as “clearly erroneous.”
Judge Cannon had stipulated that if her ruling was reversed, the report could be made public three days afterward. As a result, the earliest possible release date is Sunday. However, the Justice Department’s latest motion urged the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to authorize the report’s immediate disclosure, USA Today reports.
Trump retains the option to appeal to the Supreme Court, which could further delay the release of the report as Inauguration Day on January 20 approaches. The former president has dismissed the report as “fake” and denounced the investigation as a “witch hunt.” Several of Trump’s current and former personal attorneys have been floated as candidates to lead the Justice Department in his administration.
Earlier this week, Attorney General Merrick Garland informed lawmakers that the Justice Department planned to release the initial portion of Smith’s investigation—focused on Trump’s alleged attempts to undermine the 2020 election—but only “when permitted by the court to do so.”
A second report, examining Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents, will remain unpublished while federal charges are still pending against Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, according to government attorneys. Nauta, Trump’s personal aide, and De Oliveira, the property manager at Mar-a-Lago, argued that releasing the report could prejudice their ongoing criminal cases. Judge Cannon’s Tuesday ruling supported their position, halting the report’s release for now.
