Lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump and his former co-defendants launched efforts Monday to block the expected “imminent” release of a final report by Special Counsel Jack Smith regarding his cases against Trump involving classified documents taken from the White House and election interference.
The cases have been dropped against Trump, but charges relating to alleged obstruction continue against his one-time co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira.
Trump’s lawyers on Monday sent an emailed letter calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland to stop Smith from releasing the report, and to fire Smith immediately.
They also called Smith an “out-of-control private citizen unconstitutionally posing as a prosecutor” aiming to harm Trump politically.
“Accordingly, because Smith has proposed an unlawful course of action, you must countermand his plan and remove him promptly. If Smith is not removed, then the handling of his report should be deferred to President Trump’s incoming attorney general, consistent with the expressed will of the People,” Trump’s lawyers Todd Blance and John Lauro wrote in the letter.
Smith had planned to resign sometime before Trump’s January 20 inauguration.
The attorneys noted that they had a brief opportunity to review a two-volume draft of the report over the weekend in Smith’s office in Washington D.C. They wrote that the report described Trump’s efforts to upend the 2020 election as an “unprecedented criminal effort,” and that Trump, “the head of the criminal conspiracies,” harbored a “criminal design.”
The lawyers argued that releasing the final report would violate the Presidential Transition Act and Presidential Immunity Doctrine. They also argued that Smith was not appointed to his position “validly” and therefore can’t issue a report, and that the report “violates fundamental norms regarding the presumption of innocence.”
The emailed letter to Garland was attached to an “emergency motion” filed by attorneys for the remianing defeandants on behalf of Nauta and De Oliveira Monday calling on U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to block Smith from issuing his report, citing Cannon’s ruling that the special prosecutor’s appointment was unconstitutional.
“The Final Report promises to be a one-sided, slanted report, relying nearly exclusively on evidence presented to a grand jury and subject to all requisite protections — and which is known to Smith only as a result of his unconstitutional appointment — in order to serve a singular purpose: convincing the public that everyone Smith charged is guilty of the crimes charged,” the lawyers wrote.
Special counsels are required under Justice Department regulations to produce reports detailing their findings and charging decisions, Politico noted. Garland has promised in the past to release Smith’s report in some form.
Trump had pleaded not guilty to charges filed against him in Florida by the Justice Department accusing him of mishandling classified documents taken from the White House. Judge Cannon dismissed the case in July, saying Smith’s appointment was illegal.
Smith appealed the dismissal, but the case was dropped when Trump won the presidential election because of the Justice Department’s policy not to prosecute sitting presidents.
An appeals court later agreed to dismiss the case against Trump at Smith’s request.
Smith also dropped his election interference case against Trump regarding his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Federal prosecutors are still appealing Cannon’s dismissal of the charges against Nauta and De Oliveira.
