A new lawsuit filed by a watchdog group accuses federal judge Aileen Cannon of Florida of "burying the truth" about former special counsel Jack Smith's final report of his investigation into President Donald Trump.
The lawsuit, filed by watchdog group American Oversight, asks the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals to vacate Cannon's order prohibiting the release of Volume II of Smith's report to Congress about Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Cannon ruled last December that the report could not be released, and gave the Trump administration a 60-day window to challenge any disclosures.
“We will not allow the president and his guard dogs to bury information that belongs to the American people,” Chioma Chukwu, American Oversight's executive director, said in a statement. “For more than a year, Judge Cannon has kept the Special Counsel’s final report under seal, long after any legitimate claims by Trump’s co-conspirators expired. By blocking our effort to challenge her gag order, the court handed President Trump a roadmap for burying the report through delay and procedural gamesmanship."
The lawsuit was filed about a month after Smith testified to Congress that he believes he could be convicted of the same charges today. Smith also said the only reason Trump was not convicted is that he ran out the clock and was elected president in 2024.
"As Special Counsel Jack Smith recently testified, the report documents powerful evidence that the president willfully retained highly classified information after leaving office, putting national security at risk," Chukwu said. "We are seeking immediate relief to reverse Judge Cannon’s decision and prevent her from ruling on motions that would permanently erase this report from the historical record. The public deserves the truth, not a justice system that can be manipulated to hide it.”
