President-elect Donald Trump and two of his former co-defendants are seeking to block the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s final reports on the Washington, D.C., election interference case and the Florida classified documents case.
Todd Blance and John Lauro, lawyers for Mr. Trump, wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Monday and said that releasing the final reports would violate the Presidential Transition Act and Presidential Immunity Doctrine. They also argued that Mr. Smith was not appointed to his position “validly” and therefore cannot issue a report, and that the report “violates fundamental norms regarding the presumption of innocence.”
They wrote that they were only allowed to review a two-volume draft copy of the report in Mr. Smith’s Washington office over the weekend.
They also said releasing the reports would “be nothing more than a lawless political stunt, designed to politically harm President Trump and justify the huge sums of taxpayer money Smith unconstitutionally spent on his failed and dismissed case.”
“Under such circumstances, releasing Smith’s report is obviously not in the public interest — particularly in light of President Trump’s commanding victory in the election and the sensitive nature of the ongoing transition process,” the court filing said.
The lawyers called on Mr. Smith to be removed from his position “promptly” and said that if he isn’t, the report should be handled by Mr. Trump’s incoming attorney general, Pam Bondi.
Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, former co-defendants of Mr. Trump, at the time same asked Judge Aileen Cannon — who dismissed the Florida classified documents case after saying Mr. Smith was unconstitutionally appointed — to issue a block on the release of Mr. Smith’s report.
“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,” said the filing, submitted by Trump lawyers Mr. Blanche, Mr. Lauro, Emil Bove and Gregory Singer.
They argued the 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 Final Report promises to be a one-sided, slanted report, relying nearly exclusively on evidence presented to a grand jury and subject to all requisite protections — and which is known to Smith only as a result of his unconstitutional appointment — in order to serve a singular purpose: convincing the public that everyone Smith charged is guilty of the crimes charged,” the lawyers wrote.
The classified documents case brought against Mr. Trump was dismissed in July after Judge Cannon said Mr. Smith was illegally appointed by the Justice Department. Mr. Smith said he would appeal the decision to dismiss the case, but ultimately gave it up. However, the appeal regarding the two co-defendants is still alive.
In November, Mr. Smith moved to dismiss the 2020 election interference case out of Washington, showing that he was winding down the cases against Mr. Trump after he won the 2024 election.
The special counsel’s office is required to issue a final report to the attorney general, who can then decide whether it’s made public.
Mr. Smith and his team have said they will resign ahead of Mr. Trump taking office.
The Washington Times has reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.