Photo: lawandcrime According to a report by Law&Crime, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), together with two former co-defendants in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, has provided U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon with new justification to keep the second volume of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report sealed from public release.
In a status update filed on Monday, former Trump aide Walt Nauta, ex–Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira, and the DOJ outlined the implications of a recent 11th Circuit Court of Appeals order.
The appellate court recently gave Judge Cannon 60 days to issue rulings on intervention requests filed by the Knight First Amendment Institute and American Oversight — requests that have remained pending since February following the dismissal of the criminal cases against Nauta and De Oliveira.
The two watchdog groups have been pushing for the release of Volume II of Jack Smith’s report, arguing that public interest requires full transparency.
However, Judge Cannon, who threw out Smith’s prosecution in July 2024 after ruling his appointment unlawful, previously issued an injunction blocking the report’s release.
She argued that releasing the document at the time could compromise the defendants’ right to a fair trial.
Even though a trial is no longer expected under the Trump administration, the DOJ and the former defendants said Monday that releasing the report would still cause “extraordinary” prejudice.
They argued that the men have already faced prolonged public scrutiny and reputational harm resulting from what they describe as an investigation led by an unlawfully appointed special counsel.
The DOJ insisted that the attempts by the watchdog groups to intervene were “improper” and urged Judge Cannon to dismiss the motions without reviewing their arguments.
Nauta and De Oliveira went further, arguing that Volume II should effectively be discarded to prevent additional reputational damage.
The DOJ also noted that Attorney General Pam Bondi has full discretion over the report’s release.
However, if Judge Cannon opts to lift the injunction, the DOJ requested that Nauta and De Oliveira receive a 60-day notice period before any redacted version is made public, giving them time to legally challenge the release if necessary.