DOJ can’t show lawmakers Trump classified docs report, judge rules

U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon ruled on Tuesday that the Department of Justice could not show four members of Congress part of a report on its investigations into President Donald Trump. The portion of the report in question discusses former DOJ special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents. The DOJ has already published a companion report about Smith’s investigation of Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election’s results.

Why hasn’t this classified documents investigation report been released yet? Two of Trump’s associates, Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, are still facing charges related to the classified documents investigation. The DOJ earlier this month agreed not to release the classified documents investigation report to the public while they were still facing prosecution.

Why can’t members of Congress see the report? The Department of Justice does not have a longstanding practice of showing its special counsels’ reports to members of Congress, Cannon said in her decision. Furthermore, showing the report to members of Congress would likely result in all or part of it being leaked to the public, Cannon said. Only people inside the Department of Justice could review the report, she concluded.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about how Jack Smith resigned from the DOJ earlier this month after handing in his omnibus report about both Trump investigations.