Cannon blocks DOJ from sharing Smith's Mar-a-Lago report with lawmakers

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon blocked the Justice Department from sharing with four top lawmakers the volume of former special counsel Jack Smith’s report reviewing his investigation into President Trump’s mishandling of classified records.

In issuing her order after Trump was sworn in Monday, there was little risk Department of Justice (DOJ) officials would share the report with the leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary committees, as former Attorney General Merrick Garland had planned.

Nonetheless, Cannon sided with Trump’s two co-defendants in the case — valet Walt Nauta and property manager Carlos de Oliveira — in blocking any review of the report.

In doing so, she criticized the Biden DOJ, saying its efforts to share the report with the small pool reflected Garland’s “limited time” in office and “do not reflect well” on prosecutors.

She also cast doubt on the four lawmakers' ability to keep secret the content of the report.

“There is no ‘historical practice’ of providing Special Counsel reports to Congress, even on a limited basis, pending conclusion of criminal proceedings. In fact, there is not one instance of this happening until now,” Cannon wrote.

“Given the very strong public interest in this criminal proceeding and the absence of any enforceable limits on the proposed disclosure, there is certainly a reasonable likelihood that review by members of Congress as proposed will result in public dissemination of all or part of Volume II.”

Cannon’s opinion otherwise ignores some political realities.

While she said her court has no indication the Justice Department will abandon an appeal seeking to reinstate the special counsel, Smith has resigned after completing his work, and the Trump-led DOJ is all but assured to drop charges against the two men and abandon the case.

Trump has railed against prosecutions against him as being politically motivated and, in a Day 1 order, directed the Justice Department to review all ongoing matters that could reflect “weaponization” of the justice system.

But Cannon's order also offers new details about what this volume of Smith’s report contained, including evidence not yet publicly shared.

“Volume II includes detailed and voluminous discovery information,” she wrote, referring to the Mar-a-Lago volume.

“Much of this information has not been made public in Court filings. It includes myriad references to bates-stamped information provided by the Special Counsel in discovery and subject to the protective order, including interview transcripts, search warrant materials, business records, toll records, video footage, various other records obtained pursuant to grand jury subpoena, information as to which President-Elect Trump has asserted the attorney-client privilege in motions in this proceeding evidence, and other non-public information.”

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