Democrats have one weird trick to release the rest of Jack Smith's report
In a letter sent Thursday morning, House Judiciary Committee Democrats urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to drop federal charges against Donald Trump’s co-defendants in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.
In so doing, Garland would remove the only barrier preventing the release of the second volume of Jack Smith’s report on alleged crimes committed by Trump.
"The American people now deserve the opportunity to read Volume 2 of Special Counsel Smith's report, which explains how President Trump knowingly retained hundreds of presidential and highly classified records at his Mar-a-Lago club and then deliberately defied subpoenas, obstructed law enforcement, hid evidence, and lied about his continuing retention of these records,” the letter reads.
“It is in the very nature of American democracy that the people have a right to know of the public actions of their public officials, and it is essential to the rule of law that Justice Department special counsel reports continue to be available and accessible to the public,” it goes on to say. “As Attorney General, it is incumbent upon you to take all necessary steps to ensure the report is released before the end of your tenure, including, if necessary, by simply dismissing the remaining criminal charges against Mr. Trump's co-conspirators, Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira."
Last week, the DOJ released the first half of the report, which focused on Trump’s “unprecedented criminal effort” to steal the 2020 election. Garland noted that he would not release the second volume of Smith’s investigation since Trump’s co-defendants’ cases are still active.
“To the extent that such a decision to dismiss these cases might encourage these defendants to keep enabling the corruption of their superiors,” House Democrats argue in the letter. “[T]hose concerns are outweighed by the many indications that Mr. Trump will simply end the prosecutions against his co-conspirators upon taking office anyway and then instruct his DOJ to permanently bury this report.”
One alternative, with some support in Congress, would be for President Joe Biden to take advantage of the Supreme Court’s ruling on “absolute immunity” for “official acts” by releasing the report in the name of national security.
Judge Aileen Cannon agreed to allow the DOJ to release the first volume of Smith’s investigation, and she has now scheduled a court hearing Friday to consider Garland’s plan to share the second volume with “some lawmakers.”
Trump has successfully eluded jail time as a convicted felon, but the details of his other—and numerous—alleged crimes have yet to reach the public. Fingers crossed!
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