FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith walks on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 17, 2025. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon/File Photo
Amid the ongoing scandal surrounding the Epstein files, Donald Trump is now also fighting to block the Department of Justice from releasing a different batch of "damning" files, according to a new report from The Daily Beast.
On Tuesday, Trump's legal team filed a 19-page motion in Palm Beach, Florida, seeking to bar the DOJ from releasing a second round of files pertaining to former special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into the president's alleged criminal actions. The filing further requests that the court "permanently prohibit the release of Volume II,” and that “the Department of Justice, as well as its current, former, and future officers, agents, officials, and employees [should be barred[ from (a) releasing, sharing, or transmitting Volume II or any drafts of Volume II outside of the Department of Justice.”
It alleges that releasing more of Smith's report could "lead to the public dissemination of sensitive grand jury materials, attorney-client privileged information, and other information derived from protected discovery materials, raising significant statutory, due process and privacy concerns for President Trump and his former co-defendants."
The initial batch of files concerned Smith's investigation into Trump's alleged efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election. The second round of files concerns the investigation into Trump's alleged retention and mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort after leaving office.
Smith has recently given a closed-door testimony about his investigations, indicating strong confidence that he had enough evidence, what he called "proof beyond a reasonable doubt," to criminally convict Trump. He is also pushing for methods that would allow him to publicly disclose the findings of his investigations.
In the filing from Tuesday, however, Trump pushed, "in his individual capacity and as a former defendant in this since-dismissed criminal action, for an order prohibiting the release of Volume II of the Final Report prepared by so-called ‘Special Counsel’ Jack Smith and his office.”
Politico's Kyle Cheney was one of the first reporters to share the filings, taking to social media to express how odd it was that Trump would go to court as a private individual to compel the actions of a department he currently controls.
"It's strange for the President of the United States to be litigating in his personal capacity against the Justice Department he runs — but he's seeking an order barring 'current, former and future' DOJ officials from releasing Jack Smith's second volume," Cheney wrote in a post to BlueSky.