A federal judge has handed President Donald Trump and his codefendants a victory regarding the second volume of former special counsel Jack Smith’s report on the president’s handling of classified materials following his first term in the White House.
Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon granted his request to block the release of the report, according to a Fox News article published on Monday.
The volume was scheduled for release on Tuesday. However, Cannon said it would have represented a “manifest injustice” to Trump and others involved in the case.
Judge Aileen Cannon (United States District Court)
In 2022, Smith was chosen to probe allegations that Trump and his allies tried to overturn the 2020 election and to investigate his handling of alleged classified documents at his Florida home in 2021.
Although he brought charges against Trump, they were dropped after he was elected in 2024, and Smith resigned not long afterwards.
Cannon’s order prohibits U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi or her successors from releasing those specific documents, CBS News reported Monday:
Bondi had already determined that the report’s second volume shouldn’t be released to the public, in part because of questions surrounding the legality of Smith’s appointment as special counsel. Cannon, who was overseeing the prosecution of Mr. Trump in the documents case, ruled in July 2024 that Smith was unlawfully appointed special counsel and dismissed the charges against the president.
Smith testified before the House Judiciary Committee in January, and Breitbart News noted, “In October 2025 it was revealed Smith had tracked phone records of Republican members of Congress in his ‘Arctic Frost’ investigation.”
Trump said Smith was getting “decimated” while testifying.
“It was over when they discussed his past failures and unfair prosecutions. He destroyed many lives under the guise of legitimacy,” he said. “Jack Smith is a deranged animal, who shouldn’t be allowed to practice Law. If he were a Republican, his license would be taken away from him, and far worse!”
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