A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the Justice Department can release a report on President-elect Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss but kept in place a judge's order requiring a three-day delay to allow for further appeals.
The ruling means Trump can ask the Supreme Court to block the release of the report written by special counsel Jack Smith.
A spokesperson for Trump did not say whether the president-elect would appeal Thursday's ruling but instead attacked Smith in a statement.
Trump was dealt another legal blow Thursday when the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to clear the way for sentencing in his New York hush money case to move forward Friday.
Trump was indicted in 2023 — and again in 2024 — on four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, leading to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The case was dismissed following his election because of a long-standing Justice Department policy that a sitting president cannot be prosecuted.
Trump, who has promised to pardon an untold number of Jan. 6 defendants once he takes office again, had pleaded not guilty.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a letter to Congress on Wednesday that he planned to release the election interference-related volume of Smith's report publicly if U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's order blocking the release of the report was overruled. The appeals court Thursday kept intact Cannon's order requiring a brief delay before its release.
Garland has said he won’t release volume two of the report, drafted by Smith and focused on Trump's classified documents case, while cases against co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira are still pending.
In his statement Thursday night, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said, “It is time for Joe Biden and Merrick Garland to do the right thing and put a final stop to the political weaponization of our Justice system.”
Trump, who has frequently criticized the special counsel, said in an interview in October before he was elected that he would “fire him within two seconds” upon his re-election. NBC News reported in November that Smith and his team plan to step down before Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
