Judge blocks release of special counsel Jack Smith's report on Trump classified documents case

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 9:54 AM EST, February 23, 2026


WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Monday permanently barred the release of a report by special counsel Jack Smith on his investigation into President Donald Trump’s hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, granted a request from the Republican president to keep under wraps the report on a criminal investigation once seen as posing significant legal peril to Trump.

Smith and his team produced a two-volume report on investigations into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election after he lost to Joe Biden and his retention of classified documents at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, after he left the White House following his first term.

Both investigations produced indictments that were abandoned by Smith’s team after Trump’s November 2024 election win in light of longstanding Justice Department legal opinions that say sitting presidents cannot face federal prosecution.


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-jack-smith-3a86d9c12f18b4dfe648e539925d72a2

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Just breaking.

[ananda]

1. Must be a Scotus member about to retire.

Sheesh

[ABC123Easy]

30. I'm hearing Alito may be going before the end of 2026.

[Ocelot II]

2. Of course she did. What a surprise.

[lamp_shade]

3. Shit.

[C_U_L8R]

4. Cannon's corruption is totally predictable.

How soon will her complicity be overturned?

[bluestarone]

20. SHE was the deal breaker that kept TSF out of prison.

It's ALL on her!!

[gab13by13]

5. Calling on Neal Katyal.

[Lovie777]

6. She's overstepping.......................

time for her to resign.

[rampartd]

26. she is over stepping right up to the supreme court

just as soon as one of trump's "foreign influenced justices" resigns or is killed off.

[imaginary girl]

7. Shouldn't a decision that important be made by more than one person?

Is there a way to appeal to a larger group or different individual?

[Ocelot II]

13. Yes, and I'm sure there will be an appeal.

[yellow dahlia]

40. Such a simple and obvious question. Indeed!

[Hugin]

8. Permanent until someone in the House puts together another discharge petition.

That seems to be how things are done lately.

[marble falls]

9. Doesn't Justice Cannon have a conflict of interest ruling on anything having to do with Smith??? ...

... time to appeal to the next level.

[ScratchCat]

17. Conflict of interest with SMITH?

With SMITH?

No, with DONALD FUCKING TRUMP!!

Every judge in her district told he she legally had to decline the case because he appointed her, and she gave them the finger. Every other judge in her district knows she is a corrupt hack.

[marble falls]

27. Conflict of interest with ruling on anything having to do with Smith. I said it, I fucking meant it.

[walkingman]

10. I suspect that Cannon will replace Thomas or Alito before Trump leaves.

[Katinfl]

35. Do we think she would get confirmed in the Senate? Another reason we need to win the Senate.

[walkingman]

38. Unless we win the Senate I think it is a given and if it is even close - there always seems to be some defectors.

[Botany]

11. Why did I know that it would be Cannon?

Her #1 job from her bosses called Federalist Society is to protect Trump.

https://thiswillhold.substack.com/p/she-won-part-ii-seven-judges-direct

Your Seat Awaits, Judge Cannon

Just seven days after Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden, the Senate rammed through Judge Aileen Cannon—a Federalist Society loyalist—to the federal bench, again via the nuclear option. The seat? It would later oversee Trump’s classified documents case.

Think about that. Before he even walked out of the White House with stolen materials and a failed insurrection attempt, Donald Trump had already secured the judge who would protect him. He wasn't just breaking the law—he was fortifying his legal escape route in advance, with an assist from Senate Republicans.

By mid-2022, Judge Cannon was the only active judge in Florida’s Fort Pierce division. Trump’s legal team took full advantage, filing his case in person—in violation of standard protocol—which all but guaranteed it would land on her desk. That week, Cannon was assigned 9 of 29 new cases—over 30%, nearly triple the norm. Despite calls for recusal, she refused. She stayed. And she stalled.

[eringer]

12. Time to Appeal

Nothing is permanently blocked. That is nonsense. Time to appeal
The judges decision.

[marble falls]

28. Exactly right. They can delay. That's it.

[City Lights]

14. She is unqualified to do the job she holds.

She is nothing but a partisan hack.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

15. Deadline Legal Blog-Judge Cannon blocks release of Jack Smith's classified documents report

The Trump appointee had previously dismissed the criminal case against Trump on the grounds that the special counsel was unlawfully appointed.

BREAKING: Judge Cannon blocks release of Jack Smith’s classified documents report

READ MORE: www.ms.now/deadline-whi...

— MS NOW (@ms.now) 2026-02-23T15:04:19.584Z

https://www.ms.now/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/judge-cannon-blocks-release-of-jack-smiths-classified-documents-report

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon granted a request from President Donald Trump and his former co-defendants to block the release of Jack Smith’s report on the classified documents case he brought against Trump.

Cannon had dismissed the case in 2024 when Trump was running for president. The Justice Department was appealing her order, but dropped the appeal when he won the election, due to the DOJ’s policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.

Explaining her reasoning on Monday, the Trump-appointed judge wrote, in part, that “there is the matter of manifest injustice to the former defendants that would result from disclosure of Volume II. Special Counsel Smith, acting without lawful authority, obtained an indictment in this action and initiated proceedings that resulted in a final order of dismissal of all charges.”....

Cannon rejected a defense request to order the report’s destruction.

The 11th Circuit has reversed this idiot judge several times. I am looking forward to seeing this idiot reversed yet again

[ScratchCat]

16. Read the shit

She literally cites Trump's insistence that he is innocent as a reason to not release it.

This will be appealed and the DCA will overrule her. The entire basis of her ruling is that its not fair to Trump for this to be released and he should be considered innocent because she(Cannon) dismissed the case for him.

[bluestarone]

18. My guess here is

TSF promised her to choose her for a supreme court judge appointment.

[GiqueCee]

19. "Loose" Cannon...

... must be impeached and disbarred. Her blatant corruption cannot go unchallenged.

And, though I've said it a thousand times, politicians should never, EVER have anything to do with the selection of judges, or especially SCOTUS Justices. This country has already been corrupted enough by conservative influences. Letting a bag of rancid excrement like Trump hand-pick his own personal judges is intolerable. ALL judges and justices should be required to abjure any political affiliation whatsoever if they are to be considered "impartial".

Sweet Jesus on a pogo stick, my hatred of Der Republican Party burns hotter than the surface of the Sun. They actually welcome crooked slime like Trump and his malignant minions.

[bluestarone]

21. The 11th circuit will rule against her, BUT

Then this SC will sit on this until end of TSF's term.

[AverageOldGuy]

22. Leak the damn thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Will she replace Alito after he resigns in a couple of months?

[TheRickles]

34. Agreed! That might be the best course, if someone has the courage to do it.

Otherwise, the legal process will take forever.

[Ray Bruns]

23. Fucking Aileen Cannon. I knew it.

[Playingmantis]

24. She is protecting Trump..but what can be done about it?

And they try to tell us this is the most transparent administration in history! BULLSHIT!!

[riversedge]

25. "Without Cannon's order, Smith's report was set to become public on Tuesday."

Damn!!

[bluestarone]

29. I have chime in here again, because i'm so fucking upset about this. (even though i KNEW she would do this)

I say WHOEVER KNOWS what this report is about (fine details) they need to RELEASE it no matter what this scumbag says. Jesus Christ our country is gonna disintegrate is things don't stop this BULLSHIT!! On the HOUSE FLOOR!!

[JoseBalow]

31. I consider Cannon to be one of the co-conspirators

[oldmanlynn]

32. Who was the Federal Judge that blocked it permanently?

[Katinfl]

36. Have you read the thread? Aileen Cannon.

[republianmushroom]

33. The myth, "No one is above the law".

is total bull shit. You are if you can buy a Federal judge, and there are some for sale.

[Hassler]

37. The Cannon Cover-up continues.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

39. She needs to be impeached and removed

[yellow dahlia]

41. I know that technically and legally the attribution doesn't apply, but...

in my opinion - she is a traitor to this country.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

42. Trump admitted to insiders that Jack Smith had him 'dead to rights': report

trump broke the law and is hoping that Cannon can protect him

Of all the legal problems Donald Trump faced, from accusations of sexual assault to business fraud, he most feared the Florida stolen government documents investigation by special counsel Jack Smith that ended up being dropped when he won re-election.

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-02-24T12:50:49Z

https://www.rawstory.com/judge-cannon-jack-smith

Of all the legal problems Donald Trump faced, from accusations of sexual assault to business fraud, he most feared the Florida stolen government documents investigation by special counsel Jack Smith that ended up being dropped when he won re-election.

That is according to “Morning Joe” co-host Jonathan Lemire, who reported on the president’s terror at being convicted during a discussion on U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's Monday ruling that permanently blocked the Justice Department from releasing Smith’s final report.

With MS NOW legal analyst Lisa Rubin once again saying “all bets” would be off if the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decides to intervene, Lemire pointed out that Trump knew he was fortunate that his appointee covered up for him.

After noting there was considerable second-guessing going on after Smith elected to pursue the case in Florida, which led to Cannon’s courtroom, Lemire reported, ”Judge Cannon ended up putting a thumb on the scale significantly for Trump down the line. And you're right, Joe [Scarborough], we've talked about it on this show, Trump has privately told people, you know, more or less that he [Smith] was dead to rights on that one.”

“That was the case, the classified documents case that he feared the most,” he added. “And I know there will be second-guessing for all time in terms of the sequencing of those cases. The one in Manhattan went first, got a conviction, but it seemed to many to be the least serious, and we will never know if things had gone quicker or if the order was changed, what would have happened.“