Trump co-defendants ask Judge Cannon to block release of special counsel report
Donald Trump's former co-defendants are asking the judge who tossed his classified documents case to issue an emergency order blocking the public release of special counsel Jack Smith's final report about his investigation of the president-elect.
Lawyers for Trump's former co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, asked U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon -- who dismissed the case in July after deeming Smith's appointment unconstitutional -- to issue an order barring Attorney General Merrick Garland from publicly releasing the report by Jan. 10.
The unorthodox legal maneuver came the same day Trump's personal lawyers sent a letter to Garland demanding he remove Smith from his post and defer the decision about the report's release to Trump's incoming attorney general, Pam Bondi.
"No report should be prepared or released, and Smith should be removed, including for even suggesting that course of action given his obvious political motivations and desire to lawlessly undermine the transition," wrote Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, Trump's defense attorneys who are also his picks for top posts within the Department of Justice under his incoming administration.
Trump pleaded not guilty in June 2023 to 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information ranging from U.S. nuclear secrets to the nation's defense capabilities, and took steps to thwart the government's efforts to get the documents back.
The former president, along with Nauta and De Oliveira, also pleaded not guilty in a superseding indictment to allegedly attempting to delete surveillance footage at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.
Cannon, in a surprise move, dismissed the case this past July, citing the constitutionality of Smith's appointment as special counsel.
While Trump's criminal cases have largely faded since his election in November, Trump's lawyers have spent the final days ahead of his inauguration attempting to clear the traces of the cases, including by attempting to delay Trump's Jan. 10 sentencing in his New York hush money case and block the release of the report summarizing Smith's investigation.
Smith has been winding down his cases against the president-elect due to a longstanding Department of Justice policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president -- moving to dismiss Trump's federal election interference case and dropping his appeal of the classified documents case -- and is expected to submit a final report about his investigations to Garland before stepping down.
While special counsels normally prepare reports at the end of their investigations, Trump's lawyers argued that releasing Smith's report -- which they reviewed a draft of over the weekend -- would be "nothing more than a lawless political stunt" that harms the transition effort and "violates fundamental norms regarding the presumption of innocence."
In addition to demanding Garland prevent the report's release, lawyers for Trump's former co-defendants separately asked Judge Cannon to issue an order blocking the release of the report because Smith lacks the authority to serve as special counsel and therefore should not have access to the materials in the report.
Cannon dismissed the case against Trump and his co-defendants based on the same rationale, finding that Smith's appointment and funding as special counsel were unconstitutional.
"Despite losing in court and having no valid appointment, Smith is determined to continue litigating this case in the court of public opinion," lawyers for Nauta and De Oliveira wrote.
Lawyers for the men accused of helping Trump illegally store classified documents and obstruct justice argued that releasing the report would harm any future proceedings by tainting potential jurors and make the defense "unreasonably difficult."
While Smith dropped his appeal against Trump, he referred the ongoing appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit for the two co-defendants to federal prosecutors in Florida.
Lawyers for both men argued that the "single-sided" report would offer an unfair presentation of the evidence in the case to convince "the public that everyone Smith charged is guilty of the crimes charged" despite the case being dismissed.
"These Defendants will irreparably suffer harm as civilian casualties of the Government's impermissible and contumacious utilization of political lawfare to include release of the unauthorized Report," the defense lawyers said, alleging that Smith plans to "embark on a media mudslinging tour" though the release of the report.
Nauta and De Oliveira requested an emergency hearing on the release of the report and asked Judge Cannon to issue an order blocking the release by Jan. 10, claiming that " there is every reason to believe that the Government will issue the Final Report within the next few days."
"The Final Report is meant to serve as a Government verdict against the Defendants contrary to all criminal justice norms and constitutional guideposts," the filing said.
Spokespersons for special counsel Jack Smith and Attorney General Merrick Garland declined ABC News' request for a comment.
