Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday permanently blocked the release of Jack Smith’s report on the classified documents case against President Trump.
Cannon, a Trump appointee, slammed Jack Smith for compiling the Trump report after she dismissed the case.
“Special Counsel Smith and his team went ahead for months, undeterred, preparing [the classified documents report] using discovery collected in connection with this proceeding and expending government funds in the process,” Judge Cannon wrote in a 15-page ruling.
“To say this chronology represents, at a minimum, a concerning breach of the spirit of the Dismissal Order is an understatement, if not an outright violation of it.”
“While it is true that former special counsels have released final reports at the conclusion of their work, it appears they have done so either after electing not to bring charges at all or after adjudications of guilt by plea or trial. The Court strains to find a situation in which a former special counsel has released a report after initiating criminal charges that did not result in a finding of guilt,” Cannon wrote.
Fox News reported:
A federal judge on Monday agreed to permanently block the release of volume two of former special counsel Jack Smith’s report — centered on President Donald Trump’s handling of classified materials after his first term in office — in a significant victory for the president and his co-defendants.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, granted the president’s request to permanently block the release of the second volume of the report, ruling that its publication would represent a “manifest injustice” both to Trump and the co-defendants in the classified documents case.
“Special Counsel Smith, acting without lawful authority, obtained an indictment in this action and initiated proceedings that resulted in a final order of dismissal of all charges,” Cannon said Monday.
The ruling blocks the Justice Department from “releasing, distributing, conveying, or sharing with anyone outside the Department of Justice any information or conclusions in Volume II or in drafts thereof.”
It also comes just day before Volume II of Smith’s special counsel probe was slated to be released on Tuesday.
Last year Judge Aileen Cannon blocked the Justice Department from sharing Jack Smith’s classified documents report with Congress.
Judge Cannon during a hearing appeared skeptical of Merrick Garland’s plan to give Jack Smith’s Volume 2 final report on Trump’s classified documents case to Congress.
Cannon repeatedly asked DOJ lawyers why they needed to show the classified documents report to lawmakers. The Judge also asked if the final report was safeguarded from being leaked to the public.
“Why is there such urgency to disclose this to Congress right now, prior to the conclusion of the criminal proceeding — which would seem to be the ordinary course?” Cannon asked DOJ attorney Elizabeth Shapiro, according to Politico. “At the end of the day, what’s the upside of doing this right now?”
Cannon said the final report contains information Trump’s lawyers argued were protected under attorney-client privilege.
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