Judge blocks release of final report on Trump classified documents case

A federal judge permanently blocked the release of a report by former special prosecutor Jack Smith on the alleged mishandling of classified government documents by Donald Trump.

This Monday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon granted a motion filed by the president and two co-defendants to impede public disclosure of Smith's investigative report on the classified documents case, arguing that it would be unfair to publish evidence compiled by prosecutors in a proceeding in which no guilty verdict had been issued.

"Disclosure of non-public discovery material... would contravene basic notions of fairness and justice," Cannon wrote. "The former defendants in this case, like any other defendant in this situation, still enjoy the presumption of innocence."

"The Court strains to find a situation in which a former special counsel has released a report after initiating criminal charges that did not result in a finding of guilt," she added.

Cannon's order marks the closure of the case and confirms that the public will not know what the investigation revealed about the president.

The classified documents case

Trump appointee Aileen Cannon dismissed the documents case against him in July 2024, ruling that Smith had been appointed illegally. However, the Department of Justice (DOJ) appealed the judge's decision, but dropped the case after Trump won the November 2024 presidential election.

Smith accused Trump of hiding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, after leaving the White House in January 2021, and hampering efforts to take them back. Axios revealed that the indictment in the case noted that Trump was "personally involved" in the process of packing and moving boxes, which were allegedly stored at various locations on the president's property.

The president denied such allegations.