DOJ to release half of Trump special counsel report
The portion regarding Trump's retention of classified documents will not be publicly released


What happened
Attorney General Merrick Garland intends to release one volume of special counsel Jack Smith's report on his criminal investigations of President-elect Donald Trump but pause the other half, the Justice Department said Wednesday. The portion on Trump's efforts to subvert the 2020 election would be released publicly while the volume on his retention of classified documents would be available only to a few members of Congress.
Who said what
The Justice Department disclosed Garland's decision in an appellate court filing "opposing Trump's effort to block Smith from releasing his final report altogether," Politico said.
Smith's requisite final report was meant to be his "valedictory word" on his efforts to hold Trump "accountable for a remarkable array of criminal allegations," The New York Times said. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who oversaw then dismissed the classified documents case in July after repeatedly "issuing unusual rulings" in Trump's favor, blocked the report's release on Tuesday, a decision that "raised eyebrows among several legal experts who said she had no legal authority to issue the injunction."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
On Smith's recommendation, prosecutors said, Garland is withholding the classified documents volume until the DOJ's ongoing prosecution of two Trump codefendants is concluded. That would push the decision on releasing the second volume to Trump's attorney general, meaning it will "never see the light of day," Jonathan Last said at The Bulwark.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
Democrats’ strategy to woo voters for 2026: religion
The Explainer Politicians like Rob Sand and James Talarico have made a name for themselves pushing their faith
-
Pregnancy in America
Feature Why is it getting riskier to give birth in the U.S.?
-
The potential warning sign of an auto lender’s bankruptcy
In the Spotlight Tricolor collapse an ‘extreme example’ of economy’s challenges
-
Democrats’ strategy to woo voters for 2026: religion
The Explainer Politicians like Rob Sand and James Talarico have made a name for themselves pushing their faith
-
Venezuela: Was Trump’s air strike legal?
Feature A Trump-ordered airstrike targeted a speedboat off the coast of Venezuela, killing all 11 passengers on board
-
3 killed in Trump’s second Venezuelan boat strike
Speed Read Legal experts said Trump had no authority to order extrajudicial executions of noncombatants
-
Is Kash Patel’s fate sealed after Kirk shooting missteps?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The FBI’s bungled response in the immediate aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting has director Kash Patel in the hot seat
-
Russian drone tests Romania as Trump spins
Speed Read Trump is ‘resisting congressional plans to impose newer and tougher penalties on Russia’s energy sector’
-
Trump renews push to fire Cook before Fed meeting
Speed Read The push to remove Cook has ‘quickly become the defining battle in Trump’s effort to take control of the Fed’
-
Will Donald Trump’s second state visit be a diplomatic disaster?
Today's Big Question Charlie Kirk shooting, Saturday’s far-right rally and continued Jeffrey Epstein fallout ramps-up risks of already fraught trip
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’