US judge temporarily blocks release of Trump investigations report

Trump has denounced the investigations against him as politically motivated and the special counsel report as ‘fake’.

A United States judge has temporarily blocked Special Counsel Jack Smith from releasing a report on his investigation into President-elect Donald Trump for his mishandling of classified documents.

On Monday, Judge Aileen Cannon, the federal judge who presided over the now-dismissed case against Trump, directed the US Department of Justice not to release the report until a federal appeals court rules on a request from his two former co-defendants.

Those co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, remain the subject of a continuing appeal. They have argued that the report’s release could interfere with their right to a fair hearing.

A criminal indictment in the classified documents case was announced in June 2023, when prosecutors alleged that Trump and Nauta, his aide, defied a federal subpoena to turn over records containing defence intelligence and other sensitive materials after leaving public office.

Prosecutors also accused the two of attempting to conceal the documents and cover up the evidence that they had done so.