A US judge has temporarily blocked Special Counsel Jack Smith from releasing a report on his investigations into President-elect Donald Trump over his irregular handling of confidential documents and attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, according to a court order on Tuesday. -fair.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who presided over the now-dismissed case accusing Trump of illegally keeping confidential documents, instructed the Justice Department not to release the report until a federal appeals court rules on a request from the two former defendants. Trump in this case.
The co-defendants’ lawyers, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, accused of obstructing the investigation of the documents, filed a lawsuit last Monday to block the release of the report.
Nauta and De Oliveira argued that the report would unduly interfere with their cases, which are still ongoing.
Smith led both the classified documents case against Trump and a second lawsuit accusing Trump of trying to overturn his 2020 election loss. Both cases were ultimately dismissed.
Trump, who said the federal investigation and two other criminal probes he responded to were a politically motivated attempt to prevent him from returning to power, approved of the news.
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“It was a false case against a political opponent,” Trump told reporters at his Florida resort on Tuesday. “If they’re not allowed to issue the report, that’s how it should be…it’s great news.”
A spokesperson for Smith’s office declined to comment on the order.
