Judge blocks release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on Trump classified documents case

Federal Judge Permanently Blocks Release of Trump Documents Investigation Report

A federal judge has permanently barred the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on the investigation into President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents, a case once considered the most serious of Trump’s four criminal indictments.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, granted the president’s request to keep the report confidential. The investigation had alleged Trump improperly stored sensitive national security documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving the White House and obstructed government efforts to recover them.

Smith and his team produced a comprehensive two-volume report covering both the classified documents investigation and a separate probe into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Both investigations resulted in federal indictments that were later abandoned following Trump’s November 2024 election victory, in accordance with long-standing Justice Department policy that sitting presidents cannot face federal prosecution.

In her ruling, Judge Cannon stated that releasing the report would present a “manifest injustice” to the president and his two co-defendants. She emphasized that Smith, whom she previously ruled was unlawfully appointed, “obtained an indictment in this action and initiated proceedings that resulted in a final order of dismissal of all charges.”

“As a result, the former defendants in this case, like any other defendant in this situation, still enjoy the presumption of innocence held sacrosanct in our constitutional order,” Cannon wrote in her decision.

Attorney General Pam Bondi had already determined that the report constituted “an internal deliberative communication that is privileged and confidential and should not be released” outside the Justice Department. The Trump administration has consistently characterized Smith’s investigation as politically motivated and argued in recent court filings that the report belongs in the “dustbin of history.”

Notably, Cannon’s order applies not just to the current administration but also to Bondi’s successors at the Justice Department, creating a permanent seal on the findings of Smith’s investigation into this matter.

The decision comes despite pressure from transparency advocates. Two organizations—American Oversight and The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University—have been pushing for the report’s public release, arguing that it contains information of significant public interest.

Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, vowed to continue “using every tool available to force this information into the open and to defend the public’s right to the truth through the release of this report.”

Scott Wilkens, senior counsel at The Knight First Amendment Institute, was more pointed in his criticism: “Judge Cannon’s decision to permanently block the release of this extraordinarily significant report is impossible to square with the First Amendment and the common law.” Wilkens maintained that “there is no legitimate basis for its continued suppression.”

In her ruling, Cannon acknowledged that special counsels have historically released reports at the conclusion of their work, but argued they typically do so either after declining to bring charges or “after adjudications of guilt by plea or trial.” This reasoning contrasts with previous instances where special counsel reports have been released even after defendants were acquitted at trial.

The classified documents case had accused Trump of enlisting aides and lawyers to conceal records demanded by investigators and allegedly showing classified Pentagon attack plans and maps to unauthorized individuals. The case was widely viewed as the strongest among the four criminal cases Trump faced before his 2024 election victory.

While the first volume of Smith’s report on Trump’s alleged 2020 election interference was released last year shortly before the election, this ruling ensures the classified documents investigation will remain sealed. The decision also prevented Smith from discussing the substance of that investigation during his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee last month.

The ruling represents another victory for the Trump administration in its efforts to limit public access to information related to investigations of the president’s conduct during his first term in office.