(WASHINGTON) — A day after the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals denied an effort to block the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s final report on his two investigations into Donald Trump, the president-elect’s former co-defendants are trying to keep U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland from releasing the report to members of Congress.
Attorneys for Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira on Friday asked U.S. Judge Aileen Cannon, who earlier this week temporarily blocked the report’s release while the matter was considered by the Eleventh Circuit, to extend her three-day restraining order prohibiting the report’s release so she can hold a hearing about Garland’s proposed plan to release the portion of the report covering Smith’s classified documents investigation to the ranking members and chairs of the House and Senate Judiciary committees.
If successful, the move could result in a further delay of the report’s release, potentially past Trump’s presidential inauguration on Jan. 20.
“Once the Report is disclosed to Congress, this Court will effectively lose its ability to control the flow of information related to privileged and confidential matters in a criminal proceeding,” wrote attorneys for Nauta, a longtime Trump aide, and De Oliveira, a Mar-a-Lago employee. That makes delaying the issuance of the Final Report until this matter is resolved essential, as there will be no way to put the proverbial cat back into the bag after the Final Report is shared with Congress, and no way to control congressional speech regarding the pending criminal case.”
It’s unclear if Judge Cannon has the jurisdiction to extend her restraining order after the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling left Cannon’s temporary order the only impediment stopping the report’s release. The Justice Department earlier Friday notified Judge Cannon of their intent to appeal her injunction in an effort to nullify the three-day restriction.
Garland has stated his intent to make Volume Two of the report, pertaining to Trump’s classified documents case, available to leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees for closed-door review as soon as he is permitted to do so, and to make Volume One of the report, regarding Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election, available to the public.
Lawyers for Nauta and De Oliveira have asked Cannon, who last year dismissed the classified documents case, to hold a hearing about whether Garland should be blocked from releasing the report while the government is still appealing the dismissal of the case against Nauta and De Oliveira.
“”This Court presides over the criminal matter and is best suited to resolve the questions presented by Defendants’ request for injunctive relief,” the attorneys wrote.
Trump pleaded not guilty in June 2023 to 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information ranging from U.S. nuclear secrets to the nation’s defense capabilities, and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back. Trump, Nauta and De Oliveira also pleaded not guilty in a superseding indictment to allegedly attempting to delete surveillance footage at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Friday’s filing comes amid escalating tensions between Trump’s lawyers and the Department of Justice. On Thursday, Trump’s co-defendants suggested that the DOJ violated Cannon’s order by submitting a letter to Congress about Smith completing his investigation. Smith, in turn, filed a notice claiming the defense assertion is unfounded.
“There is nothing about the government’s email to counsel for President-elect Trump, the government’s submission to the Eleventh Circuit, nor the Attorney General’s letter to Congress that violates this Court’s Order,” Smith wrote.
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