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Judge blocks release of special counsel's report on Trump

Reuters File image of US special counsel Jack SmithReuters
Jack Smith led two investigations into Trump, but later abandoned both

A Florida judge temporarily blocked the release of a Department of Justice special counsel report that would detail findings from Donald Trump's classified documents case.

Jack Smith led two federal probes into Trump, one on alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and another on his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

Both cases against Trump were shelved when he won re-election, but Mr Smith's detailed report was due to be released.

On Tuesday, US District Judge Aileen Cannon, who oversaw the classified documents case and controversially dismissed it last July, temporarily barred Mr Smith or Garland from "releasing, sharing, or transmitting" the report.

Trump's two co-defendants in the classified documents case -- Walt Nauta, Trump's personal aide, and Carlos De Oliveir, the property manager at the Mar-a-Lago club -- had asked her to intervene. Both men had pleaded not guilty.

Judge Cannon ordered the release be put on hold until a higher appeals court, the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, considered an emergency appeal from Mr Nauta and Mr De Oliveir.

Trump praised Cannon as a "brilliant judge with great courage" at a press conference where he learned of her decision.

However, it was far from clear that Judge Cannon had the jurisdiction to block the release of the report, said Daniel Charles Richman, a professor at Columbia University Law School.

By law special counsels must present the findings of their investigations to the justice department, which is headed by the attorney general. Typically, attorneys general then share the reports with the public, and Attorney General Merrick Garland has in the past promised to do so.

In a letter to Garland, Trump's lawyers have urged him to end the "weaponisation of the justice system" and not release this report.

They argue that Mr Smith did not have the legal authority to submit the report because he was unconstitutionally picked to do the job and was politically motivated. Judge Cannon ruled this summer that the special counsel was unconstitutional, a controversial decision that many legal scholars have criticised.

Mr Smith has not yet publicly responded to the letter.

Trump's legal team received a draft copy of the report at the weekend. It was expected to be released as soon as Friday.

The two investigations led to criminal indictments against Trump but both have since been dismissed, partly due to a longstanding DoJ policy not to prosecute a sitting president.

The former president had pleaded not guilty and denied all wrongdoing.

During his time away from the White House, Trump faced an array of legal cases, most of which were successfully delayed and thwarted by his lawyers and allies.

Only one of his four criminal cases went to trial, resulting in a unanimous guilty verdict on 34 charges of falsifying business records. Trump is currently battling to stave off his sentencing in that case, which is scheduled in New York on 10 January.

On Tuesday, a New York appeals court rejected Trump's bid to delay the sentencing.

The administration of the Democratic president, Joe Biden, faced accusations from Trump's opponents that they brought federal cases against the Republican too slowly, while Trump's supporters argued that the prosecutions were politically motivated.

One of Mr Smith's two cases concerned Trump's attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 election, which he lost to Biden.

Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the case ended up in legal limbo after the Supreme Court ruled that Trump was partially immune from criminal prosecution over official acts committed while in office.

Mr Smith later refiled his case, but wound it down after Trump's 2024 election win. He and his team are expected to resign from the justice department before Trump takes office.