UPDATE (Jan. 10, 2025, 5:36 a.m.): The Justice Department on Thursday night notified U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that it’s appealing to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals her order blocking the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s final report for three days after that federal appeals court weighs in on a defense motion seeking to block the report. The 11th Circuit denied that defense motion earlier Thursday.
The federal appeals court covering Florida rejected a defense request to block the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s final report on his office’s investigations into Donald Trump. But an order temporarily blocking its release from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon is still in place for now, which would keep the report blocked for three more days absent further appeal.
Trump’s former co-defendants in the classified documents case had sought to block the report’s release, filing motions with both the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Cannon, the Trump appointee who dismissed the classified documents case against Trump and his two co-defendants last year. The government’s appeal of her dismissal has been pending in the 11th Circuit, though the Justice Department dropped the appeal as to Trump because he will become president again soon and the DOJ has a policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.
On Tuesday, Cannon issued an order temporarily blocking the report’s release pending further word from the 11th Circuit, and she said the order remains in effect until three days after the circuit decides the defense motion. The DOJ subsequently told the circuit court that, while litigation was still pending against Trump co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, it didn’t intend to release the volume of the report related to the classified documents case, but that it did intend to release the volume related to the federal election interference case, where Trump was the only person charged.
The DOJ said the circuit should reject the defense motion, set aside Cannon’s order, and make clear that the attorney general can allow limited congressional review of the classified documents-related volume of the report as well as the public release of the election interference-related volume.
Thursday’s order from the circuit denied the defense motion but said, “To the extent that Appellant [the DOJ] seeks relief from the district court’s [Cannon’s] January 7, 2025, order temporarily enjoining Appellant, Appellant may file a notice of appeal from that order.” The circuit court order suggests the Justice Department could immediately challenge Cannon’s order directly at the circuit court, which just sided with the government and might do so again if given the opportunity. The defense could also seek relief from the Supreme Court, so the matter may not be settled either way. The order came just as Trump lost his Supreme Court bid to block his criminal sentencing in the New York state hush money case that’s set for Friday morning. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. Subscribe to the Deadline: Legal Newsletter for expert analysis on the top legal stories of the week, including updates from the Supreme Court and developments in Donald Trump’s legal cases.
Jordan Rubin is the Deadline: Legal Blog writer. He was a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and is the author of “Bizarro," a book about the secret war on synthetic drugs. Before he joined MS NOW, he was a legal reporter for Bloomberg Law.
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