Trump urges AG Garland to block Jack Smith's final report on federal cases

WASHINGTON (CN) — President-elect Donal Trump’s legal team made a last-minute push Monday to block the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s final report on the two dismissed criminal cases against Trump.

Todd Blanche and John Lauro, both of whom represented Trump in his election subversion case in Washington and his classified documents case in Florida, asked Garland to leave the decision to release Smith’s findings to the Trump administration. The letter was included as an exhibit in a motion filed in the Southern District of Florida.

“Rather than acknowledging, as he must, President Trump’s complete exoneration, Smith now seeks to disseminate an extrajudicial ‘Final Report’ to perpetuate his false and discredited accusations,” the lawyers wrote.

“It is clear, as has been the case with so many of the other actions of Smith and his staff, that the Draft Report merely continues Smith’s politically motivated attack, and that his continued preparation of the Report and efforts to release it would be both imprudent and unlawful," they continued.

The request would upend the common practice of allowing special counsels to issue a final report detailing their findings to the public, regardless of whether the probe resulted in criminal charges or conviction — such as special counsel Robert Hur’s final report regarding President Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified documents.

Monday’s letter comes on the four-year anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol that was the culmination of a months-long effort by Trump to sow doubt and overturn his 2020 electoral defeat — the basis for Smith’s four federal charges in Washington.

Additionally, Blanche is Trump’s nominee to take the second-highest position at the Justice Department as deputy attorney general.

According to the letter, Trump’s lawyers were allowed to review the two-volume draft version of the document over the weekend in Smith’s office.

The letter was filed as part of motion brought by Trump’s former codefendants in Florida, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, asking U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to enjoin the release of the report.

Cannon, a Trump appointee, has largely sided with Trump throughout the course of the criminal proceedings regarding his mishandling of highly classified documents after being voted out of the White House in 2020.

In July, Cannon dismissed the case against Trump, accepting his argument that Smith was unconstitutionally appointed and therefore his case could not stand. While Smith initially planned to appeal the ruling, he withdrew from the appeal last Monday and referred the case to federal prosecutors in Florida.

Blanche and Lauro repeated that argument Monday, arguing that releasing the report would “extend and perpetuate” Smith’s apparent violations of the Constitution. They further alleged that Smith’s wrongful appointment meant he had “pillaged’ $20 million to further his dual investigations.

The duo demand Garland remove Smith — who they called an “out-of-control private citizen” — immediately, or otherwise defer the report’s handling to Pam Bondi, Trump’s yet-to-be-confirmed nominee to replace Garland as Attorney General.

Releasing the report would also infringe on the Supreme Court’s decision granting presidents broad immunity, as well as Trump’s presumption of innocence.

If Garland “improperly rejected” Blanche and Lauro’s demands, they requested that Monday’s letter be appended to the final report upon its release.

While much of Smith’s findings have been made public over the course of the investigation en masse as part of an immunity brief and subsequent dossier released back in October, the final report would be his last chance to outline how the president-elect tried to maintain his grip on power in 2020.

With Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, Smith and Garland have come under scrutiny for seemingly dragging their feet in bringing charges over Trump’s election subversion.

By filing the charges in August 2023, just 15 months before the election, critics argued that prosecutors failed to provide much buffer room for Trump’s delaying tactic of appealing any negative ruling.

Even with the expedited appellate schedule Trump and Smith received at the D.C. Circuit and the Supreme Court over the immunity question, it was nearly impossible for any trial in Washington to take place, least of all any final sentence.

With Inauguration Day less than two weeks away, Trump has promised “retribution” against his perceived political enemies on the campaign trail, and suggested that Smith would be a prime target after he resigns his post as special counsel.

Trump has not provided details as to what that retribution would look like and has indicated he would not direct potential AG Bondi to levy charges, merely suggesting it would be her decision to investigate and bring any charges.

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