US District Judge Aileen Cannon has permanently barred the Justice Department from releasing former special counsel Jack Smith's report on Donald Trump's handling of classified documents. The ruling, issued on Monday, prevents the report from being sent to Congress or made public.
Cannon, appointed by Trump, condemned Smith for compiling the report after she dismissed the case in 2024, calling it a 'brazen stratagem.' She wrote that releasing the report would disclose secret grand jury material and cause irreparable harm to the president.
The report, known as Volume II, details Trump's efforts to retain classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago club and obstruct government attempts to retrieve them. Smith had charged Trump, along with co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, for moving boxes of documents after a subpoena.
Cannon dismissed the case in 2024, ruling Smith was unlawfully appointed. Smith appealed but dropped the appeal after Trump's re-election and resigned. Volume I, addressing Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, was released in January 2025.
In her 15-page decision, Cannon acknowledged that previous special counsels, like Robert Mueller, had released reports, but argued the circumstances of this case made it unfair to Trump, as he was never brought to trial.
