11th Circuit Appeals Court Makes a Decision on Release of Jack Smith's Report

On Thursday, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a motion from President-elect Donald Trump and co-defendants in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, who asked the court to block the release of the final report from Special Counsel Jack Smith.

As The Hill reported:

A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected a bid from President-elect Trump’s two co-defendants in the Mar-a-Lago documents case to block the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s final report.
The court’s swift decision comes after the Trump team late Monday asked two different courts to bar the release of Smith’s report, set to cover both the Mar-a-Lago investigation and that into Trump’s efforts to block the transfer of power after he lost the 2020 election.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the emergency motion. It did not, however, speed a lower court ruling that limits their decision from taking effect for three days.
Federal prosecutors argued there was no need to enjoin the release of Smith’s report. In a Wednesday filing, they wrote Attorney General Merrick Garland had determined it would be appropriate to publicly release only the Jan. 6 portion of the two-volume report.
At Smith’s advice, Garland committed to not releasing the volume of the report dealing with the Mar-a-Lago documents probe to avoid prejudicing a future jury. Valet Walt Nauta and property manager Carlos de Oliveira remain on trial even after charges were dropped with regard to Trump due to Justice Department policy barring the prosecution of a sitting president.
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The decision also unwinds a lower court ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, who on Tuesday issued an order barring Garland from releasing both volumes of his report.

Attorney General Merrick Garland's intentions to release Smith's reports have been news for months, even after Trump won the election, though Smith did move to drop all of his cases. He did so without prejudice, though, meaning the charges could theoretically be brought back when Trump has left office in 2029. Such requests from the co-defendants, have also been in the news this week.

Steven Cheung, the Trump Communication Director, sent out a statement that was also emailed from the Trump-Vance transition team. Such a statement focused heavily on calling out Smith, as well as the "the political weaponization of our Justice system."

"Deranged Jack Smith was sent packing after losing both of his Witch Hunts against President Trump. Deranged was unconstitutionally appointed and paid for, so he cannot be allowed to do anything more in perpetuation of his election-interfering hoaxes, let alone prepare an unconstitutional, one-sided, falsehood-ridden screed," Cheung's statement began, bringing up key issues about Smith, including those which have been raised by Justice Clarence Thomas. "Today’s decision by the 11th Circuit keeps Judge Cannon’s injunction in place and prevents any report from being issued. 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. The American People elected President Trump with a historic and overwhelming mandate, and we look forward to uniting our country in the new Administration as President Trump makes America great again," Cheung continued.

Such a decision comes as the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday night also declined to block sentencing for Trump's hush money case in New York City, noting that the president-elect can go through challenging his conviction "in the ordinary course on appeal." Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts on May 30 of last year. He will appear virtually on Friday morning for sentencing.