As the legal drama surrounding the fallout from special counsel Jack Smith’s failed attempts to prosecute Donald Trump continues in Florida, the focus now shifts to what happens next with his investigation reports. Lawyers for two of Trump’s co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, are pushing hard to keep a key document under wraps, arguing that its release could harm their clients—even if the charges against them are eventually dropped.
Here’s the backstory: The federal cases against Donald Trump were dropped because of a long-standing Department of Justice (DOJ) rule that prevents indicting a sitting president. Still, Smith has been wrapping up his investigations and putting together a final report. This report has two parts. The first part, which came out earlier this week, focused on Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. The second part is about Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents. Right now, that second part is under a court order from Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida, stopping it from being shared with certain members of Congress.
On Thursday, Nauta and De Oliveira’s lawyers made their case to Judge Cannon, urging her to keep standing firm against the government’s request to release this second part. They argued that even if the report were shared only with lawmakers, it could still leak and unfairly harm their clients, especially since their case is still ongoing.
The government, on the other hand, says they want to share the report to provide transparency about their investigations. But the defense lawyers aren’t buying it. They claim the move is purely political and risks creating “irreparable harm” for their clients. According to their filing, even if Congress agrees not to make the report public, there’s no guarantee lawmakers won’t share their thoughts or interpretations of it, which could be just as damaging.
The lawyers argue that releasing the report now would be reckless and point out what they see as a double standard. They say the DOJ is essentially saying the court can control what the defense shares about the case, but not what the government does with its information. They even called the DOJ’s actions “disingenuous,” accusing them of creating their own problems and then complaining about them.
The government’s suggestion to release the report and then drop the case if it causes prejudice didn’t sit well with the defense either. The filing called this approach irresponsible and a waste of taxpayer money, adding that it would make a “mockery” of the legal process.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Trump have also been active in this legal battle. They’ve been pushing back against the DOJ’s efforts to block Trump from participating in Friday’s hearing about the issue.
For now, the fate of this second volume remains in the hands of Judge Cannon, as the courtroom drama in Florida inches closer to a resolution. Whether or not the report will be released—and how that might affect the pending cases—remains to be seen.
