BREAKING: Judge Cannon sets hearing on release of Jack Smith's report in Trump classified docs case

On Monday, Judge Aileen Cannon set a motion for later in the week regarding the release of former special counsel Jack Smith’s final report on the Mar-a-Lago documents case against President-elect Donald Trump, but denied to continue blocking the release of Smith’s report on the January 6 case.

In Cannon’s order, she noted that the Department of Justice "represents that it 'believes that nothing in Volume One of the Final Report ... directly or indirectly refers, relies, or bears in any respect upon any evidence or argument relevant to any of the charges alleged against Defendants Nauta and De Oliveira in this case.'" Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira are the remaining defendants in the Mar-a-Lago case after Cannon dismissed the case against Trump over the summer.

The other volume of the final report "presents contested factual and legal issues that must be resolved in an orderly, expedited basis, following full briefing and a hearing," Cannon wrote, noting that the Department of Justice seeks to make a "limited disclosure" of the volume to congressional leadership, citing “public interest in keeping congressional leadership apprised of a significant matter within the Department while safeguarding defendants’ interests."

Cannon set a hearing regarding the Mar-a-Lago documents case report for January 17 at 2 pm.
 

Cannon blocked the Department of Justice from releasing the Mar-a-Lago report until after the emergency motion hearing and a decision is made on it, writing, "Release of Volume II, even on a limited basis as promised by the United States, risks irreversibly and substantially impairing the legal rights of Defendants in this criminal proceeding."

"The Court is not willing to make that gamble on the basis of generalized interest by members of Congress, at least not without full briefing and a hearing on the subject. Nor has the United States presented any justification to support the suggestion that Volume II must be released to Congress now, as opposed to after a reasonable period for an expedited hearing and judicial deliberation on the subject."

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