President Donald Trump wants to keep former special counsel Jack Smith’s final report classified, according to a new court filing Tuesday.
In the filing from his personal lawyer, the president told U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon — a judge he appointed and his first direct request of her — to continue an extension on an 11-month order to block the Justice Department from sharing the report, Politico reported.
Smith submitted it just before Trump's second inauguration and reportedly tells the story of the criminal case against the president after he hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home, including in a bathroom.
"Trump’s request is a break from the Justice Department’s handling of all special counsel reports in recent decades. Typically, those reports are provided to Congress and made public, even when they have included damaging findings about the incumbent administration. DOJ released another report Smith compiled detailing his findings about Trump’s bid to subvert the 2020 election shortly before President Joe Biden left office," according to Politico.
"The filing is infused with the typical disdain Trump has expressed for his former prosecutors, labeling Smith a 'so-called special counsel' and saying the case was 'marred by numerous deficiencies and repeated abuses of office,'" the outlet reported.