A federal judge on Monday permanently barred the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on his investigation into President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents, blocking public scrutiny of a prosecution that once stood as the most perilous of four criminal cases against the Republican. Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, granted the president’s request to keep the report sealed. Smith’s investigations produced indictments that were abandoned after Trump’s 2024 election victory, citing Justice Department legal opinions prohibiting prosecution of sitting presidents.
The decision prevents disclosure of how federal prosecutors alleged that Trump stored sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office and obstructed efforts to retrieve them, denying the public detailed accounting of a criminal investigation that shaped the early years of Trump’s second term.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon wrote in her order that releasing the report would present a “manifest injustice” to the president and his two co-defendants, who retain “the presumption of innocence held sacrosanct in our constitutional order.”
Why the Report Stays Sealed
The Trump administration has characterized Smith’s investigation as politically motivated. Attorney General Pam Bondi determined that the report was “an internal deliberative communication that is privileged and confidential and should not be released” outside the Justice Department, according to court papers.
Smith produced a two-volume report on the classified documents investigation and a separate report on Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Both investigations produced indictments that were abandoned by Smith’s team after Trump’s November 2024 election win in light of longstanding Justice Department legal opinions that prohibit federal prosecution of sitting presidents.
Cannon, who dismissed the classified documents case after concluding that Smith was unlawfully appointed, wrote that while special counsels have historically released reports at the conclusion of their work, they have done so either after electing not to bring charges or “after adjudications of guilt by plea or trial.”
First Amendment Opposition
Two First Amendment organizations have been pressing for the report’s release. Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, said it “will continue using every tool available to force this information into the open and to defend the public’s right to the truth through the release of this report.”
Scott Wilkens, senior counsel at The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said “there is no legitimate basis for its continued suppression. Judge Cannon’s decision to permanently block the release of this extraordinarily significant report is impossible to square with the First Amendment and the common law.”
Trump’s lawyer Kendra Wharton praised Cannon’s ruling, saying that Smith was unconstitutionally appointed and his report “should never see the light of day.”
The Classified Documents Allegations
The classified documents case had accused Trump of repeatedly enlisting aides and lawyers to help hide records demanded by investigators. The case also alleged that Trump cavalierly showed off classified documents, including a Pentagon “plan of attack” and a classified map, to individuals without the necessary security clearances.
The first volume of Smith’s report on the 2020 election interference investigation was released last year shortly before Trump returned to the White House. Smith has said he believes the classified documents charges would have resulted in a conviction had voters not elected Trump in 2024.
Cannon had previously granted a defense request to temporarily halt the release of the classified documents report. That edict prevented Smith from discussing the substance of the investigation when he testified before the House Judiciary Committee last month.