DOJ: Judge Cannon 'lacks authority' to withhold Jack Smith’s classified docs report

15 January

Former special counsel Jack Smith's final report on his cases against President-elect Donald Trump contains two volumes: one on his election interference case, the other on his Mar-a-Lago/classified documents case.

Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, cleared the way for the release of the election interference volume — which came out on Tuesday, January 14. But the other volume remains unreleased, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is saying that Cannon "lacks the authority" to block its release.

Meanwhile, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, Trump's co-defendant in the classified documents case, are trying to keep that volume from coming out.

In an article published on January 15, Law & Crime's Jerry Lambe explains, "While the cases against Trump have been dismissed due to longstanding DOJ policy against indicting and prosecuting a sitting president, that is not so for his co-defendants in the classified documents case, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira…. Nauta and De Oliveira have been imploring the courts to prohibit the Justice Department from allowing the second volume of Smith's report to be viewed in chambers 'by the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees upon their request and agreement not to release any information from Volume Two publicly.'"

Lambe adds, "The duo have argued that releasing Smith's report, even in such a limited fashion, would unconstitutionally prejudice their due process rights."

The DOJ is still being led by outgoing U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, but that will change soon — as Trump's second term as president will begin on Monday, January 20. And if Trump has his way, Garland will be replaced by former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi — who was questioned by Democrats and Republicans during a Senate confirmation hearing on January 15.

Lambe reports, "The DOJ, on Tuesday, argued that Cannon should reject the request from Nauta and De Oliveira, asserting that the release of the report to certain members of Congress would not harm their ability to defend against the allegations while also arguing that Cannon lacks the authority to enforce an injunction on the report."

In a January 14 court filing, DOJ wrote, "First, Defendants Nauta and De Oliveira cannot establish that the Department of Justice's intention to make Volume Two of the Final Report available for in camera review by the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees will cause Defendants any harm, much less irreparable harm as required to obtain emergency relief. Second, Defendants cannot establish that injunctive relief is appropriate on the merits because this Court lacks the authority to intrude on the Attorney General's prerogative to manage the Justice Department's interactions with Congress, and there exists no other basis to enjoin the Department."

Read the full Law & Crime article at this link.

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