Jack Smith Suffers Final Humiliating Defeat

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has permanently blocked the Justice Department from releasing special counsel Jack Smith’s final report detailing President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and allegations he obstructed efforts to retrieve them.

In a sharply worded, 15-page ruling issued Monday, Cannon blasted Smith for what she called a “brazen stratagem,” accusing him of pressing ahead with the report even after she ruled in July 2024 that his appointment as special counsel was unconstitutional and dismissed the case against Trump and two co-defendants.

“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,” Cannon wrote. “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.”

Cannon said releasing the report now would “contravene basic notions of fairness and justice” and amount to a “manifest injustice,” noting the case never reached a jury. She also warned publication could expose information shielded by attorney-client privilege and grand jury secrecy.

“While it is true that former special counsels have released final reports at the conclusion of their work,” Cannon wrote, “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.”

The Justice Department initially appealed Cannon’s dismissal but abandoned the case after Trump’s election. After Trump was sworn in to his second term, the department reversed course and argued Smith’s report should never be made public — a position aligned with Trump’s legal team and his former co-defendants, Carlos de Oliveira and Walt Nauta.

Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club

Cannon underscored that “all parties” agreed the report should remain under wraps. Still, two outside groups, American Oversight and the Knight First Amendment Institute, attempted to intervene in the dismissed case to push for disclosure. Cannon denied their request. Their appeal is pending before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

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The ruling is likely to stymie additional efforts to obtain the report through the Freedom of Information Act. Multiple individuals and organizations, including media outlets, have filed requests seeking its release. Unless overturned, Cannon’s order effectively shuts that door.

Cannon, a Trump appointee, has faced liberal screeches for decisions seen as favorable to the president. She previously slowed the classified documents case by appointing an independent reviewer to examine materials seized from Mar-a-Lago.

She ultimately dismissed the case on the day Trump was formally nominated at the 2024 Republican National Convention, just one week after an assassination attempt that nearly killed him.

Smith’s final report was structured in two volumes. The first, focused on Trump’s actions following the 2020 election, was released publicly by the Justice Department in January 2025, days before President Joe Biden left office.

Before returning to the White House, Trump asked Cannon to block both volumes. Cannon ruled at the time that she lacked authority over matters tied to the separate election-related investigation.

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