by Jeremy Roebuck, Perry Stein (c) 2025 , The Washington Post
A federal appellate court ruled Thursday that the Justice Department may publicly release special counsel Jack Smith’s report on Donald Trump’s efforts to undo the results of the 2020 election, although the timing of that release remains unclear.
The ruling did not distinguish between the two volumes of Smith’s report – one dealing with his election-interference probe and the other focused on Smith’s investigation into Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents.
But Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland have said in court filings and in a letter to Congress that they will keep the classified documents volume under wraps while litigation related to the case continues.
The president-elect and two of his former co-defendants in the documents case had urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to block the release of the entire report, with Trump saying making it public would harm his White House transition.
Trump and his co-defendants did not immediately say Thursday if they would appeal. A lower court judge had previously barred the release of the report until at least three days after the 11th Circuit decision.
Smith’s report could shed new light on alleged efforts by Trump and his allies to subvert his election loss four years ago. Many of those details were divulged in a lengthy legal brief Smith filed last year detailing the evidence his team had amassed. But Smith’s report could offer a clearer picture of the material as well as insights into the strategy the government would have employed had that historic set of charges against Trump gone to trial.
Smith agreed to dismiss the election interference indictment last year after Trump’s election victory, citing Justice Department regulations prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president.
A federal judge in Florida had already thrown out the separate set of classified-document charges against Trump and two of his longtime employees, Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira. The judge, Aileen M. Cannon, concluded that Smith was unlawfully appointed by Garland and therefore the charges he had brought were void.
The Justice Department is appealing that decision before the 11th Circuit, hoping to overturn a ruling that officials believe could jeopardize future special counsel and other agency appointments. Smith dropped Trump as a party in the appeal after he was elected.
In response to the 11th Circuit’s ruling Thursday night, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said Smith was “unconstitutionally appointed and paid for” and described the special counsel report as “an unconstitutional, one-sided, falsehood-ridden screed.”
Lawyers for Trump and his co-defendants reviewed a draft of the special counsel report earlier this week. In arguing that the report should not be released, they leaned heavily on the claim that Smith was unlawfully appointed.
“The report is nothing less than another attempted political hit job which purpose is to disrupt the presidential transition and undermine President Trump’s exercise of executive power,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in a court filing.
On Wednesday, Justice Department lawyers told the court that releasing the election-interference portion of the special counsel report would serve the public interest. But they said Smith and Garland had agreed the volume on the classified documents investigation should not be publicly released until the litigation involving Nauta and De Oliveira had concluded. Lawyers for the two men had argued that public release of that volume would prejudice their clients if their cases were resolved.
Garland said he intended to share a redacted version of Smith’s report on the classified documents probe with only the chairs and ranking minority-party members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees – and only if those lawmakers promised not to share the information with others.
Lawyers for Nauta and De Oliveira, however, argued there was no way to prevent those members of Congress or their staffs from leaking the report or its conclusions. They urged the 11th Circuit to let Cannon – the Trump appointee who had overseen the classified documents case before dismissing the charges – decide whether Smith’s report should be released.
Cannon, a Trump appointee whose rulings on his behalf have raised eyebrows in legal circles and were twice overturned by the 11th Circuit, issued an order earlier this week barring the Justice Department from releasing the report until three days after the appeals court had weighed in.
It will fall to Trump’s appointees leading the Justice Department to decide how to handle the appeal once he takes office. Trump has said he will appoint several of his own defense lawyers to top positions in the agency – including Todd Blanche, his pick for deputy attorney general, the No. 2 position in the department.
Blanche, who has represented Trump in three of his four criminal cases, co-wrote a brief filed with the 11th Circuit late Wednesday arguing the entirety of Smith’s report should be withheld from public view because its revelations were likely to interfere with Trump’s transition.
The other author was Trump attorney Emil Bove, who the president-elect has said will be principal deputy attorney general, a position that does not require Senate confirmation. Bove is expected to serve as acting deputy attorney general while Blanche awaits Senate confirmation for his role.
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Marianne LeVine in West Palm Beach, Fla., contributed to this report.