Judge allows publication of report on Donald Trump’s electoral interference case in 2020

The Justice Department may release special prosecutor Jack Smith’s investigative report on the case of interference in the 2020 elections of President-elect Donald Trump, a federal judge ruled Monday.

It is the latest ruling in a judicial dispute over the document when there are just a few days left before Trump assumes the presidency again.

However, a temporary court order prohibiting immediate release of the report remains in effect until Tuesday, and federal Judge Aileen Cannon’s order is unlikely to be the final word on the matter. Trump’s lawyers could try to challenge the decision all the way to the Supreme Court.

Cannon, who was nominated for the position by Trump, had previously imposed a temporary block to prevent the Justice Department from releasing the full report on the investigation Smith led, which resulted in two separate criminal cases.

Cannon’s latest order paved the way for the publication of the volume detailing Smith’s case in which Trump was accused of conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

The judge scheduled a hearing for Friday to determine whether the agency can release to lawmakers the volume on the case in which Trump was accused of accumulating confidential documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence after leaving the White House in 2021. .

The department has said it will not publicly release that volume while criminal proceedings against two alleged Trump accomplices remain unresolved.

Cannon dismissed the confidential documents case last July after determining that Smith was improperly named. And the Justice Department dropped both cases after Trump won last November’s presidential election, referencing the Justice Department’s policy that prohibits federal indictments against a sitting president.

Smith submitted his resignation Friday after giving his report to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Justice Department announced in a footnote in a court filing over the weekend.

If upheld, the ruling could open the door for the general public to learn in the coming days about the details of Trump’s desperate, and eventually failed, attempt to cling to power in the run-up to the January 6, 2021 assault on the federal Capitol.

But even as Cannon allowed the release of the volume on election interference, he barred the Justice Department from immediately sharing with lawmakers another volume related to the Mar-a-Lago buildup of classified documents.

Lawyers for the other two defendants in the case, Trump aide Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira, had argued that the release of the report would harm them considering that the proceedings are still ongoing. criminal charges against him in the form of an appeal filed by the Justice Department of Cannon’s order to dismiss the charges.

As part of a settlement, the Justice Department said it would not make that document public but would instead share it with select members of Congress for a private review. However, Cannon halted those plans and instead scheduled a hearing for Friday afternoon.

“All parties agree that Volume II expressly and directly refers to this criminal proceeding,” he wrote. “All parties also appear to agree that the public release of Volume II would be inconsistent with the fair trial rights of defendants Nauta and De Oliveira and with Department of Justice policy governing the release of information during the pendency of proceedings.” “criminals.”

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channels YouTube, WhatsApp and to newsletter. Turn on notifications and follow us on Facebook, x and instagram.