WASHINGTON — A motion to extend an injunction prohibiting the Justice Department from making public a volume of a report that former special counsel Jack Smith provided on President-elect Donald Trump’s attempts to reverse his 2020 election defeat was refused by Federal Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday.
Unless Trump or his team takes further legal action, the Justice Department could make the section of the Smith report that addresses Trump’s attempts to reverse his 2020 election defeat public as early as midnight, according to the ruling by U.S. District Court Aileen Cannon. She maintained a ban on the release of the section of the report that dealt with the case of the classified documents, which the Justice Department stated it had no plans to release at this time.
The 11th Circuit has not yet made a decision on a motion filed by the Justice Department requesting that the section of the report pertaining to January 6 be made immediately public.
Attorney General Merrick Garland informed Congress that he will release the volume of the report that addresses Trump’s 2020 ambitions as soon as he is legally permitted to do so after Smith resigned from his position on Friday. Due to the ongoing allegations against two co-defendants, the bulk of the report that addresses Trump’s handling of secret documents will not be made public.
Days before Trump takes the oath of office, the much anticipated report on his attempts to sabotage the election in the run-up to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 is anticipated to be released.
Trump was charged with four federal felonies related to his efforts to win back the election, but the matter was eventually dropped when Trump won the 2024 election due to delay tactics. All wrongdoing has been denied by Trump.
Regarding the report’s part on sensitive documents, Cannon stated that she would conduct a hearing on Friday to discuss whether or not some members of Congress may be given access to it.