The Justice Department moved Friday to permanently seal a classified-documents report produced by former Special Counsel Jack Smith, calling it the “illicit product of an unlawful investigation and prosecution” that belongs in the “dustbin of history.” The filing escalates a legal battle over whether Smith’s report on his investigation into President Donald Trump’s handling of sensitive documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate should be made public.
The Trump administration’s characterization of Smith’s investigation as “unlawful from its inception” marks a sharp reversal in the government’s own legal position, coming as Smith defended his work Thursday during congressional testimony. The sealed report has become a flashpoint over how the executive branch handles investigations of sitting presidents and what the public can learn about prosecutorial decisions.
The Filing and the Claim
In a three-page court brief filed in federal court in Florida, prosecutors argued that Smith’s investigation was legally defective from the start. U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones and prosecutor Manolo Reboso wrote that Smith “not only weaponized the Department of Justice against a leading presidential candidate in pursuit of an anti-democratic end, but he did so without legal authority and while targeting constitutionally protected activity.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi, citing attorney-client privilege, said the report should remain sealed as an internal deliberative communication. The government’s position directly aligns with arguments made by Trump’s legal team, which this week also asked Judge Aileen Cannon to permanently block the report’s release.
The Two Investigations
Smith’s two-volume report documented investigations into two separate matters: Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election after his loss to Joe Biden, and his retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, following his departure from office.
The investigations resulted in indictments that were abandoned by Smith’s office after Trump won the November 2024 presidential election. The withdrawal followed longstanding Justice Department legal opinions holding that sitting presidents cannot face federal prosecution while in office.
Smith released the volume on the election investigation in the final days of the Biden administration. But Judge Cannon, who was appointed by Trump and issued multiple favorable rulings for Trump and his co-defendants in the classified-documents case, last year granted a defense motion to temporarily halt the release of the classified-documents volume. That injunction is scheduled to lift on February 24, 2026.
Smith’s Congressional Defense
On Thursday, Smith testified before the House Judiciary Committee, defending his work and insisting he had acted free of political motivation. “No one should be above the law in our country, and the law required that he be held to account. So that is what I did,” Smith said.
During the same hearing, Smith said he had no second thoughts about the criminal charges he brought and stood by his investigation as conducted without regard to politics. The classified-documents report remained sealed during his testimony, preventing him from discussing details of that investigation with lawmakers.
The Tension Over Presidential Accountability
The dispute over the report reveals competing claims about investigative authority, judicial independence, and public access to government records. At issue is the proper role of the Justice Department during investigations of sitting presidents and what the public can learn about prosecutorial decisions.