Trump's co-defendants again seek to delay release of Jack Smith's final report
Source: ABC News
January 10, 2025, 5:23 PM
A day after the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals denied an effort to block the release of special counsel Jack Smith's final report on his two investigations into Donald Trump, the president-elect's former co-defendants are trying to keep U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland from releasing the report to members of Congress.
Attorneys for Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira on Friday asked U.S. Judge Aileen Cannon, who earlier this week temporarily blocked the report's release while the matter was considered by the Eleventh Circuit, to extend her three-day restraining order prohibiting the report's release so she can hold a hearing about Garland's proposed plan to release the portion of the report covering Smith's classified documents investigation to the ranking members and chairs of the House and Senate Judiciary committees.
If successful, the move could result in a further delay of the report's release, potentially past Trump's presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. "Once the Report is disclosed to Congress, this Court will effectively lose its ability to control the flow of information related to privileged and confidential matters in a criminal proceeding," wrote attorneys for Nauta, a longtime Trump aide, and De Oliveira, a Mar-a-Lago employee. That makes delaying the issuance of the Final Report until this matter is resolved essential, as there will be no way to put the proverbial cat back into the bag after the Final Report is shared with Congress, and no way to control congressional speech regarding the pending criminal case."
It's unclear if Judge Cannon has the jurisdiction to extend her restraining order after the Eleventh Circuit's ruling left Cannon's temporary order the only impediment stopping the report's release.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/trumps-defendants-seek-delay-release-jack-smiths-final/story?id=117560780
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