WASHINGTON — A federal court has issued a permanent injunction preventing the public disclosure of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigative report concerning President Donald Trump’s handling of classified materials at his Mar-a-Lago property.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, approved the Republican president’s petition to suppress the report from a criminal probe that previously threatened significant legal consequences for Trump.
Smith’s office compiled a comprehensive two-part report examining Trump’s attempts to reverse the 2020 election results following his defeat by Joe Biden, as well as his possession of classified materials at his Florida Palm Beach residence after departing the White House at the end of his initial presidency.
Criminal charges stemming from both probes were dropped by Smith’s prosecutors following Trump’s victory in the November 2024 election, adhering to established Justice Department policy prohibiting federal criminal cases against incumbent presidents.
Judge Cannon, who previously threw out the case in 2024 by determining Smith lacked proper appointment authority, declared that making the report public would constitute a “manifest injustice” against Trump and his two fellow defendants.
“Special Counsel Smith, acting without lawful authority, obtained an indictment in this action and initiated proceedings that resulted in a final order of dismissal of all charges,” she wrote. “As a result, the former defendants in this case, like any other defendant in this situation, still enjoy the presumption of innocence held sacrosanct in our constitutional order.”
The judge acknowledged that special counsels traditionally publish reports when concluding their investigations, but noted this typically occurs either when no charges are filed or “after adjudications of guilt by plea or trial.”
“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, at least not in a situation like this one, where the defendants contested the charges from the outset and still proclaim their innocence.”
