'Terminate all efforts': Trump fighting to keep Jack Smith’s final report hidden from public

07 January

Even though President-elect Donald Trump's two federal criminal cases have been dismissed, he's now battling to suppress the release of a final report explaining the decision to charge him.

The Guardian reported Tuesday that Trump's attorneys have filed motions seeking to block the release of a comprehensive report by Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith — something that all special counsels typically do at the conclusion of an investigation. In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, lawyer Todd Blanche (who has been tapped to be deputy attorney general in Trump's DOJ) argued that releasing the report would be "unlawful."

"We write on behalf of President Trump to demand that Smith terminate all efforts toward the preparation and release of this report," the filing read. "[T]he Draft Report merely continues Smith’s politically-motivated attack, and... his continued preparation of the Report and efforts to release it would be both imprudent and unlawful."

The Guardian described the effort to suppress the report as a "long-shot effort," given that President Joe Biden's administration will ultimately decide whether the final report gets published. Trump's lawyers falsely asserted that because U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon (who Trump appointed to the bench months before he was voted out of office) dismissed Smith's classified documents case based on an opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas in the Trump v. United States immunity ruling, that her decision was legally binding. They further opined that publishing the report was a political act that would only serve to damage the reputation of the incoming administration.

“Public release of a report by Smith would also disrupt the ongoing transition process and violate the Presidential Transition Act,” Trump's legal team wrote. “Creating and releasing a prejudicial report to the public would violate these commands by giving rise to a media storm of false and unfair criticism.”

Now, Trump's lawyers are arguing for an additional hearing for co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, who were charged with allegedly helping Trump violate classified documents laws. The bid for a hearing could be a means of delaying the case further until Trump is sworn in as president, after which he would have full control of the DOJ.

Trump was indicted on 37 felony counts of allegedly mishandling classified documents in the Southern District of Florida, and on four counts of allegedly interfering with the certification of the election in Washington D.C. However, after Trump was elected to a second term in November, Smith moved to have the cases dismissed, likely so he could move to writing the final report before Trump's inauguration on January 20.

Click here to read the Guardian's report in full.

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