U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon has temporarily stopped the Justice Department from releasing Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on former President Donald Trump’s legal cases. The ruling comes after Trump’s legal team asked for the report to be kept under wraps.
The report covers two major cases: the Mar-a-Lago documents case and Trump’s role in alleged election interference. Cannon’s decision followed requests from Trump’s two co-defendants in the Mar-a-Lago case, who argued that releasing the report could hurt their defense.
Judge Cannon’s ruling is significant because it places a hold on the release until three days after any ruling from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is reviewing a prior decision where Cannon dismissed part of the Mar-a-Lago case.
In her order, Cannon said blocking the release of the report would help “preserve the status quo” and prevent “irreparable harm.” This decision has drawn attention, as some critics have pointed out Cannon’s tendency to side with Trump in legal matters, often acting in a way that seems more protective of Trump than a neutral judge would.
The Justice Department has not commented publicly but has indicated that they plan to respond to Trump’s legal team by Tuesday evening.
Trump’s co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, also filed motions asking Cannon to prevent the report’s release. They’ve now taken the matter to the 11th Circuit as well.
In a separate development, a letter from Trump to Attorney General Merrick Garland surfaced, in which Trump urged Garland to remove Special Counsel Jack Smith and leave decisions about releasing the report to a new attorney general he would appoint if he were re-elected.
While Smith moved to dismiss the Mar-a-Lago case for Trump based on a policy that prevents charging a sitting president, the case is still ongoing for Nauta and de Oliveira. Last year, Judge Cannon dismissed the entire case against all three men, claiming Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel. Prosecutors have appealed her decision, and the 11th Circuit is now considering the matter.
Critics argue that Cannon’s rulings are often seen as unusually favorable to Trump, leading some to question whether she is acting as a defender of the former president rather than an impartial judge.
