NEW: American Oversight Submits Expedited Motion Urging Judge Cannon to Lift Order Blocking Release of Trump Classified Documents Report
Court Order Shields Report Containing Key Information on Trump’s FBI Nominee Kash Patel, Despite Trump DOJ Dropping Charges
Today, nonpartisan watchdog American Oversight submitted an expedited motion in the now-defunct federal criminal case against President Trump and two co-defendants for alleged mishandling of classified documents. The motion asks Judge Aileen Cannon to dissolve her Jan. 21 order barring the Department of Justice (DOJ) from releasing Volume Two of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report, or confirm that the order expired when all remaining criminal charges were dismissed in January.
Today’s motion follows American Oversight’s Feb. 10 lawsuit and motion for a preliminary injunction against the DOJ, demanding the swift release of the report. The report details the findings from the criminal investigation into President Trump’s alleged mishandling of highly classified documents as he left office after his first term. It could also expose critical details about Kash Patel, Trump’s handpicked nominee to lead the FBI, as he approaches the final hurdle of Senate confirmation. Despite the report’s potential to reveal key information about Patel, this week the DOJ claimed it could not release the report until Judge Cannon lifted her order.
“Neither the DOJ nor the court should stand in the way of the release of the Special Counsel’s report, which may contain critical information about Kash Patel’s fitness to serve as FBI Director,” said American Oversight interim Executive Director Chioma Chukwu. “Now that the Mar-a-Lago prosecution has ended, claims by the Trump DOJ that Judge Cannon’s order somehow lives on are a violation of the public’s right to the report. We urge the court to act without any further delay, as the security of our nation depends on it.”
American Oversight is represented in the lawsuit by in-house counsel along with Miami-based attorneys Adam Schachter and Barbara Llanes with Gelber Schachter & Greenberg, P.A.
BACKGROUND
In January, American Oversight filed a lawsuit in federal court, seeking records involving Patel from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. American Oversight also condemned his nomination, warning that he has demonstrated a disdain for the rule of law and could abuse his power to target an enemies list of critics and former government officials, and others meeting his or Trump’s disfavor.
The nomination of Patel, who rose through the ranks of the first Trump administration as an avowed loyalist to the president, raises serious concerns about how the FBI could be weaponized by a president who during his first term routinely sought to politicize the Justice Department and has threatened “retribution” for his political enemies during his second term.
In 2021, American Oversight sued for communications of top Trump administration officials related to the Jan. 6 insurrection, including Patel’s communications. One of the lawsuits revealed that the Pentagon had failed to preserve senior officials’ text messages, leading to the department announcing a change in policy.
In 2022, American Oversight sued the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for communications and records related to the Mar-a-Lago classified documents. In response, NARA released 65 pages of emails and correspondence related to the 15 boxes retrieved from Mar-a-Lago but withheld over 1,000 pages due to ongoing investigations. NARA subsequently released additional records while continuing to withhold hundreds of pages under law enforcement exemptions.
American Oversight is a nonpartisan watchdog with a proven record of effective and innovative investigations that expose wrongdoing and drive change. During the second Trump administration, transparency will serve as a critical tool for accountability to combat abuses of power, attacks on democratic institutions, and threats to civil rights and civil liberties.