The House Judiciary Committee’s Democrats wrote Attorney General Merrick Garland a letter, urging him to release special counsel Jack Smith’s full report related to President-elect Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents.
Garland released the first volume of the report, submitted to Congress, earlier this week, after the court’s block expired at midnight on Tuesday.
The first volume of Smith’s report unveils the findings of his investigation into Trump’s actions following the 2020 election. After Trump won the 2024 presidential election, the case against him was dismissed, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Legal omplications of co-defendants’ cases
The case against him regarding classified documents was also dismissed, but his co-conspirators continue to face legal charges related to obstructing the investigation.
And because of the ongoing case against them, it’s tricky to release the second volume of the report, which largely tackles Trump’s handling of classified documents. Even Smith recommended against Garland releasing it to the public.
“As Attorney General, it is incumbent upon you to take all necessary steps to ensure the report is released before the end of your tenure, including, if necessary, by simply dismissing the remaining criminal charges against Mr. Trump’s co-conspirators, Waltine Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira,” said the letter, obtained by ABC News.
Nauta was an aide to Trump, and de Oliveira served as a former property manager at Mar-a-Lago. They face allegations for obstructing the investigation into Trump and pled not guilty in court.
“To the extent that such a decision to dismiss these cases might encourage these defendants to keep enabling the corruption of their superiors, those concerns are outweighed by the many indications that Mr. Trump will simply end the prosecutions against his co-conspirators upon taking office anyway and then instruct his DOJ to permanently bury this report,” they wrote.
“While we understand your honorable and steadfast adherence to Mr. Nauta’s and Mr. De Oliveira’s due process rights as criminal defendants, the practical effect of this position is that Volume 2 will almost certainly remain concealed for at least four more years if you do not release it before President-elect Trump’s inauguration on January 20,” the Democrats wrote.
Even though the Justice Department dropped all charges against Trump, Nauta and de Oliveira still face prosecution, making it challenging to release the second half of the report.
Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled in favor of releasing the first volume, heard arguments over the release of the second volume in Fort Pierce, Florida on Thursday.