U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has ruled against the release of a report compiled by former special counsel Jack Smith regarding President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents. Cannon described Smith’s efforts as a brazen attempt to circumvent her prior dismissal of charges against Trump. The decision emphasizes principles of fairness and justice in the absence of a guilt adjudication.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, appointed by Trump, issued a ruling on Monday denying former special counsel Jack Smith’s request to release a report on Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left office in January 2021. Cannon dismissed the related charges against Trump in July 2024, citing violations of the Constitution’s Appointments Clause and improper authorization of Smith’s office.
Despite the dismissal, Cannon noted that Smith continued to investigate and compile the report, intended for transmission to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, Congress, and others. She wrote that Smith’s team “chose to circumvent it, for months, by taking the discovery generated in this case and compiling it in a final report.” Cannon added, “The Court need not countenance this brazen stratagem or effectively perpetuate the Special Counsel’s breach of this Court’s own order.”
The judge argued that releasing the report would “cause irreparable damage to former defendants from disclosure of non-public discovery material implicating still-contested grand jury and privilege concerns; and it would contravene basic notions of fairness and justice in the process, where no adjudication of guilt has been reached following initiation of criminal charges.” She highlighted that such a release would deny Trump and his co-defendants a meaningful opportunity to respond to the allegations.
Smith has claimed possession of “powerful evidence that showed Trump willfully retained highly classified documents” post-January 2021. However, Cannon observed that 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,” especially where “the defendants contested the charges from the outset and still proclaim their innocence.”
Separately, Smith faced questions from lawmakers last month about his investigations into Trump. Charges related to the January 6 Capitol riot were dismissed after Trump’s election and before his return to office in January 2025.
