Federal appeals court moves to block release of portions of special counsel Jack Smith's final report detailing his investigation and prosecution of President-elect Trump's alleged 2020 election interference and improper retention of classified records was rejected.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has rejected claims by President Trump aide Walt Nauta and former Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira. Both men were charged with obstructing a separate federal investigation into President Trump's response. Confidential government records.
The court suspended the release of the Ministry of Justice's report for three days.
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U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith speaks during a press conference in Washington, DC, August 1, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Justice Department is proceeding with plans to release the first of two books focusing on election interference cases, but the confidential document portion of the report will be kept private only to the chairs and executives of the Judiciary Committees in both the House and Senate. He said he would make it available for viewing. The case will be retried as long as the case against Trump's co-defendants remains active.
It was not immediately clear when the election interference report would be released.
Election interference lawsuits were curtailed by the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity, which gave former presidents broad immunity from prosecution.
Following Trump's presidential victory, Smith's team abandoned both cases in November, citing Justice Department policy barring federal prosecutions of sitting presidents.
Justice Department rules require a special prosecutor appointed by the attorney general to submit a confidential report at the conclusion of an investigation. The attorney general will then decide what to make public.
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Attorney General Merrick Garland has released special reports under his watch, including Robert Hur's report on President Joe Biden's handling of classified information and John Durham's report on the FBI's Russian election interference investigation. The full text of the report prepared by the public prosecutor was made public.
FOX News' Brooke Seinman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
