3w ago

Trump seeks to block 'imminent' release of special counsel Jack Smith's report

www.nbcnews.com Trump seeks to block 'imminent' release of special counsel Jack Smith's report

Trump’s lawyers said they reviewed a two-volume draft copy of Smith’s report over the weekend.

Summary

Donald Trump’s lawyers are seeking to block the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s final report on two prosecutions, claiming it could harm the presidential transition and be seen as a political act.

The report is expected to include damaging details about Trump’s alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election and hide classified documents.

Trump’s legal team has requested that Attorney General Merrick Garland fire Smith and defer handling the report to Trump’s incoming attorney general.

Smith plans to resign before Trump’s inauguration, but the report’s release remains "imminent."

45 comments

Fuck Jack Smith, fuck Merrick Garland and fuck Joe Biden.
You fuckers had FOUR FUCKING YEARS and did absolutely NOTHING.
And don't give me this shit about justice moving slowly, watch a black man get arrested for 10oz of weed and watch justice work at warp speed.
- Y’all are also overlooking the judge on the case is a straight up Trump puppet. She’s probably done more to slow that case down than anyone.
  
  In desperate situations, things get leaked.
  This was a desperate situation.
  It should have been leaked.
  
  They waited two years to even START investigating. This is absolutely Garland’s failure.
- I feel like Smith at least tried while he had his hands tied by the people who were supposed to make his job easier. History will not be kind to any of them though, circumstances be damned. I hope at least some of them have to live with the consequences of their own actions, but I feel very sorry indeed for the millions who had no hand in the decision.
- There were thousands of people involved in the January 6th insurrection. All of them had their own cases. All of those cases had witnesses and suspects that had to be investigated. All of this had to be done while trying to build a case against the most powerful man in America. A case that would actually win against Trump, owner of judges.
  At no point was this investigation not moving forward until Trump had one of his judges delay it.
  This effort to demonize the people who try to convict Trump is obvious.
  
  Bullshit, this was just a case of not wanting to convict Trump because it would set a precedent where rich and ex presidents could be held accountable. That's why everyone dragged their feet.
  Even the Jan 6th foot soldier morons where there was faaar less evidence against them got pounded by the system. Meanwhile the top asshole got to keep golfing.
- And don't give me this shit about justice moving slowly
  Yeah that was the stock response I got when I made this same argument a few weeks ago, but even Biden has now stated that the DOJ dragged their feet on prosecuting him. Waiting until after the primaries when he'd already won the nomination to file charges meant that this was doomed from the start.

Just release it you spineless fucks.
Milquetoast will go down in our history as the weakest man to ever hold the AG spot and should have rotten produce thrown at him whenever he sticks his head out in public.

This is another incredible unforced error.
President-elect Donald Trump and his former co-defendants in the Florida classified documents case launched an effort Monday to block the release of a final report by special counsel Jack Smith that also addresses the election interference case.
Both cases against Trump have been dismissed.
Lawyers for defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira filed a motion Monday night asking U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to block Smith, who prosecuted the case, from issuing his report.
And
Trump’s lawyers said they reviewed a two-volume draft copy of Smith’s report at the special counsel’s office in Washington, D.C., over the weekend.
The special counsel’s office is required under Justice Department regulations to provide a confidential report to Garland, who can choose to make it public.
So the cases against Trump were dismissed. There was no pending litigation or prosecution.
And then, for god knows what reason, the Justice department let Trump's lawyers - Trump, a private citizen, not engaged in court action any longer on the matter - review the full report. Trump's lawyers then went crying to their pet judge, Aileen Cannon, who almost certainly will issue an unconstitutional and superfluous injunction without a case pending. That will cause appeals, which will run out the clock until Trump is president and completely kills and buries the report.
DOJ, Smith and Garland: You should have just released the report. You have no duty to Trump. Your duty is to the American people. A GOP administration would have done it and let the courts sort it out. Play just as hard - release it and let Trump fight about it in court after it's released - he wouldn't have at that point. You can still do it before Cannon rules, but you just squandered your ability to do this quickly and cleanly.
Edit: Cannon did exactly as expected, blocking the release of the report:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/06/politics/trump-smith-special-counsel-final-report/index.html
The report appears to confirm Trump's criminal activities and also apparently that Trump's lawyers (who are unnamed people who are going to be appointed to the DOJ) were given a courtesy viewing to allow them to litigate - completely unnecessarily:
The attorneys, two of whom have been selected by Trump for top Justice Department roles in the new administration, asked for advance notice of the report’s release so that they can “take appropriate legal action.”
In the court filings, the defense lawyers said that the government allowed them “limited-access” review of the draft over the weekend and that it “revealed a one-sided narrative arguing that the Defendants committed the crimes charged in this case.”
- Generally, the incoming administration has some sway on things. Normally this is meant for things like new initiatives and programs that the new administration will want to change or update. For example, imagine a sane incoming president (I know right?)
  Let's say this incoming president wants to change how subsidies to corn producers are worked through. The USDA is slated to start their version of the subsidy a few weeks before the inauguration. Instead of stopping the program, reworking it, and then re-releasing it, they put a freeze on the program so that the new administration can put their touch to it. (IMO, our lame duck period really needs to be shortened but it's not happening so long as power is wielded)
  It was never meant for this situation. So while yes Trump is technically and legally a private citizen, he also isn't and the current administration can't ignore that.
  My guess what happened here is that Trump received the documents as President Elect, not as the defendant. President Elect often gets the same briefings as the current President. It's just a fucking travesty that our incoming President is a fucking criminal.
  Source: I worked during the Bush to Obama transition.
  
  Great write up.
  I was saying to my wife, “I’m getting really tired of playing by the rules and losing.” So I hope they release it.
  
  That's very helpful (especially with your real experience).
  Yes, in theory the DOJ's adherence to presidential transition norms may have meant they given him an early view, except that it was presented to his "lawyers" according to the article - that sounds off for a normal transitional briefing. Not sure if your experience is different?
  Either way, it's such a shame the DOJ didn't act more strategically. Vis a vis the litigation, his status as president-elect shouldn't matter. This was for his personal conduct, not his official acts as president (which Smith explicitly re-drafted his charges to confirm).
- You're talking as if Garland wasn't a Republican himself.
- 'But trump is a member of the American population and therefore I have responsibility to him! He also just happens to be the Future POTUS and my boss! No corruption here! Checkmate Trans-Athiests!'
- Garland still can. If he's really loyal to this country, he'd release it.
  Then the appeals go the other way, on whether the DoJ was really allowed to release it. But the important bit is already done.
  
  Garland is a coward, loyal to himself/GOP
- Cannon can because there are two non-dismissed cases that are referenced in the report.
  The federal government is still pursuing those cases... Which is interesting, because if Trump did nothing wrong, there's no case to pursue.
  So, of course Cannon has blocked the release. At this point, Republicans win if they stall enough.

If the Trump legal team has viewed it, and it's been submitted to a judge, enough people have seen this thing for an "anonymous leak" of the reports to the media.
Do it.

Honestly this report could have rock solid evidence of treason, pedophilia, murder, drug usage/dealing and election tampering. It could have eye witness reports, links to video testimony, shit it could have trump himself admitting to doing all of these things and it would have 0 effect on the support he has.
Weirdly trump and his lawyers don't even seem to understand this.
- You're very wrong.
  All of that would increase his support.

This does not matter anymore. They don't have to attempt to overturn elections anymore. The elections will be Russia-style in perpetuity.
Thanks for "helping."

Why? What's even the point of blocking anything? Do anyone think that it will have any effect? Its very obvious by now that anybody who was able to do something about it doesn't give a fuck. It will just be milked for headlines for a few days and then die down, without any consequence for anybody mentioned in it. Why do they even care if it's released?
- My pleading with the universe hope is that what's in that evidence is in fact damning enough that the public would immediately call for him to actually face justice.
  But again, "pleading" hope
  
  My pleading with the universe hope is that what’s in that evidence is in fact damning enough that the public would immediately call for him to actually face justice.
  Not to be negative to you or anything, but if I've learned anything in the past 8 years its that there is literally nothing that could reside in that document which could result in a negative reaction from those who put him in power, or any kind of consequences. Maybe if he was secretly registered Democrat somehow. That would be about it.
  
  It won't because it never had any effect when Mueller released his report that showed Trump & co colluded with Russia. People just took their partisan stances and claimed it was a rigged witch hunt.

What's with all these plans. Just do it, or don't.

So if you're Trump you get to steal and disclose top secret documents with impunity. But if you're disclosing information about Trump's wrongdoing, it's illegal even if it's non secret info in the public interest.
Makes me wonder what would have if Trump disclosed top secret info about his own wrong doing? Would we get a perpetual motion machine powered by Trump going in and out of prison?

What limp dicks the Justice department is when the criminal is white and right wing and ‘rich’

Basically, be so criminal and make a political career out of it that you are protected from a law that was never really supposed to handle outliers like you.

45 comments