Jack Smith Hits Back at Aileen Cannon's Trump Ruling: 'Plainly Erroneous'

 

The U.S. Justice Department has criticized a judge's decision to block the release of a report on Donald Trump's federal indictments, intensifying a legal battle over making Special Counsel Jack Smith's findings public before the president-elect takes office.

On Friday, the Justice Department filed an emergency motion with a federal appeals court, seeking to overturn Judge Aileen Cannon's injunction that prevents the publication of Smith's report. The report addresses Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

This emergency request marks the latest development in a fight to release the report before Trump's inauguration on January 20. Concerns persist that the Justice Department, under the incoming Trump administration, could obstruct its publication.

Judge Cannon, a Trump appointee, issued the injunction on January 7, blocking the release of the report regarding Trump's alleged attempts to challenge his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden. On Thursday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied an emergency defense motion to block the report's release, as reported by the Associated Press.

However, Cannon's injunction remains in place, stipulating that the findings cannot be disclosed until three days after the appeals court resolves the matter. The Justice Department is now urging the court to immediately lift Cannon's injunction, calling her decision "plainly erroneous."

The DOJ argued that the injunction prevents officials from privately sharing Smith's findings about Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents with the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. The department also noted it would not publicly release the portion of the report concerning classified documents found at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate after he left the White House in 2021, citing ongoing criminal proceedings involving two co-defendants.

Attorney General Merrick Garland, as the Senate-confirmed head of the Justice Department, holds the authority to decide whether to release investigative reports prepared by his subordinates, the filing emphasized. Garland has stated his intention to release Smith's findings, though he has indicated that the section concerning the classified documents case would be withheld due to pending legal matters.

Both investigations led to Trump's indictment, but the cases were dropped after his victory in the 2024 presidential election. Smith cited Justice Department policy prohibiting the federal prosecution of a sitting president.

Trump's spokesperson, Steven Cheung, dismissed Smith's report as "unconstitutional, one-sided, and filled with falsehoods." He called on President Joe Biden and Attorney General Garland to "put a final stop to the political weaponization of our justice system," according to the New York Daily News.

Legal challenges are likely to continue if Trump or his co-defendants in the classified documents case appeal the 11th Circuit's decision to the Supreme Court.