US DOJ argues for public release of Trump election case investigation materials News
Official White House photo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
US DOJ argues for public release of Trump election case investigation materials

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an argument in the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday seeking the public release of materials from the investigation and prosecution of Donald Trump relating to his alleged obstruction of the 2020 presidential election. The decision comes in response to a district court order that temporarily restricted DOJ Special Council Jack Smith from releasing his Final Report on the investigation into the election case and Trump’s mishandling of classified documents on Tuesday.

In reference to the DOJ’s intent to release the investigation report into the election case to the public and Congress, the DOJ argued that the release was necessary “in furtherance of the public interest in informing a co-equal branch and the public regarding this significant matter.” The DOJ stated that it intends to withhold from public release the section of the report on the mishandling of classified documents as long as that case is pending. However, it intends to release a redacted version to members of the House and Senate.

The emergency motion for an injunction to prevent the release of the report was filed because the defendants in the classified documents case claimed that the report’s release would prejudice them. Since that section of the report is not intended to be released, and the first section of the report does not concern the defendants, the DOJ argued that there is no legal basis for the emergency injunction.

The defendants also argued that the report should not be released because of the illegitimacy of the Special Council that conducted the investigation. While a district court did conclude that the Special Council was not properly appointed, the DOJ argued that the district court did not have the jurisdiction to file a “nationwide injunction barring the Special Counsel from discharging the functions of his office in Washington, D.C. or elsewhere”.

A district court dismissed the election and mishandling of secret document charges, but the DOJ appealed the current case to the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The charges against Trump were withdrawn after his election, but the mishandling of classified documents case against codefendants Nauta and De Oliveira continues.

US federal prosecutors indicted Trump on four criminal charges in August 2023 in Smith’s federal investigation into interference with the 2020 presidential. The indictment accused the former president of “pursu[ing] unlawful means of discounting legitimate votes and subverting the election results.” The criminal charges were brought following the January 6, 2022 attack on the Capitol, which prompted the investigation against Trump.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Standard Oil incorporated

On January 10, 1870, John Davison Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil. Rockefeller's corporation would grow to achieve a virtual monopoly over oil production in the United States. Standard Oil's dominance lasted until the corporation was split into 34 separate companies in 1911 after the Supreme Court found the company in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The rise of Standard Oil made Rockefeller America's first billionaire and eventually the richest man in the world. Read the text of Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey vs. United States, 221 U.S. 1 (1910).