US Justice Dept will not publicly release all of special counsel report on Trump By Reuters

Sarah N. By Lynch and Andrew Gadsward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department will not yet release special counsel Jack Smith’s report into Donald Trump’s withholding of classified documents, it said on Wednesday, citing the ongoing prosecution of two associates of the president-elect.

That portion of Smith’s report will be available to certain members of Congress charged with judicial oversight, the department said in a filing with a federal appeals court in Atlanta.

The department said Smith has completed his two-volume report on Trump and that Attorney General Merrick Garland plans to release publicly for now only the first section, which deals with Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 presidential election.

Although the agency dropped two criminal prosecutions of Trump after his November election, it is pursuing a case against two other defendants, Waltin Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, who worked for Trump, over the documents.

Justice Department regulations require Smith to submit a final report at the end of his investigation.

It was unclear how much information it would contain, which has yet to be revealed in the now-dismissed criminal case Smith brought against Trump about the 2020 election and in a 700-page report by a congressional committee that looked into similar events.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon, who oversaw the classified documents case, temporarily blocked the department from releasing the report after a request by Nauta and De Oliveira.

The Justice Department said limited disclosure of the documents to members of Congress would serve the public interest while protecting the interests of the two remaining defendants.

U.S. prosecutors have charged Trump with illegally retaining classified documents after he left the White House in January 2021 and attempting to obstruct the government’s efforts to return them.

They also accused Trump of trying to block the government from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory over Trump.

The Justice Department has dropped two prosecutions against Trump, citing its longstanding policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

Prosecutors have urged the appeals court to revive their case against Nauta and De Oliveira, who pleaded not guilty to obstruction charges after Cannon previously ruled that Smith was improperly appointed as special counsel.