CNN
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Judge Aileen Cannon said Monday she would does not block the exit of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on his investigation into Donald Trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
However, Cannon has scheduled a court hearing later this week on Attorney General Merrick Garland’s plan to share with some lawmakers the portion of Smith’s report dealing with the investigation into classified documents. In the meantime, she continues to prevent the department from disclosing this aspect of the report to anyone outside the agency.
Trump on Monday evening asked the judge to rethink his order clearing the way for the release of the portion dealing with the 2020 election investigation, arguing that it should remain on hold so he can present his arguments to block the release complete report during Friday’s hearing. .
Cannon rejected the Trump team’s last-minute attempt to delay the Justice Department’s release of the volume of the election subversion report, leaving the earlier suspension lifted at midnight.
The rebuff of the Trump-appointed judge marked the latest twist in a legal battle that has upended the Justice Department’s preparations to end its investigations into Trump before he is sworn in next week, while putting into jeopardizes the transparency of Congress and the public in these matters. probes.
The department has always released final reports on special advisers’ investigations of presidents, including when those presidents were still in the White House. But as part of a continuing legal attack on Smith, Trump and his allies delayed the release of the January 6 volume of the report, which is unlikely to break any factual ground, and suspended even limited disclosure of the report on classified information. documentary investigation.
Trump has chosen several members of his personal defense teams to play roles in his new administration.
Cannon, per Monday’s order, continues to block the department’s release of the report’s volume of classified documents because she is “unwilling to make that gamble based on widespread member interest.” of Congress, at least not without a full briefing and hearing.” on the subject. »
Garland had planned to allow Republicans and Democrats who lead the House and Senate Judiciary Committees to review the report privately on the condition that they not release information from it.
Garland said he would publicly release the special counsel’s report on Trump and the aftermath of the 2020 election before Trump takes office next Monday. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The previous order Cannon passed to block the release of the two volumes was set to expire at midnight until Tuesday, allowing the department to release the volume of 2020 election records at that time.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had already rejected the Trump team’s earlier request to block release of the report.
After Cannon’s initial order, Trump said on social media that Smith was “illegitimately involved in this political persecution, and that all of the hundreds of millions of dollars spent by our unfortunate government were, quite simply, wasted!”
In the election subversion case, Smith alleged that Trump and several unindicted co-conspirators undertook a multi-step plan to attack the peaceful transfer of power, culminating in the January 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol by Trump’s supporters. Trump. The case was blocked by a Supreme Court ruling last summer and finally abandoned after election day.
In the Mar-a-Lago documents affair, Trump was accused of mishandling national defense information he took with him during his first term in the White House. He was also accused of obstructing the federal investigation into the whereabouts of the documents, as were his two employees, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira.
Defense attorneys argued that Cannon’s ruling last summer that Smith was unconstitutionally appointed prevented Garland from releasing the report of the two special counsel investigations. Given that the decision on the nominations is currently under appeal, raising the possibility that the lawsuits could be revived, Trump staffers also argue that releasing the report could harm them as defendants. Trump was removed from the case after his re-election.
This story has been updated with additional developments.