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DOJ Says It Accidentally Sent Sealed Jack Smith Volume II to Defendant’s Lawyers

Defense counsel reported finding the embedded files, deleting them, and returning the drives to the government, which has prompted oversight questions about conflicts at the Justice Department.

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Overview

  • The Justice Department told U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in a joint filing Thursday that electronic discovery it provided included three embedded copies of the sealed Volume II report.
  • The discovery was furnished on flash drives on June 3 and defense lawyers identified the embedded documents on June 9 before notifying the government and stopping review.
  • Defense counsel said they deleted downloaded materials, handed the drives back to the government the same day, and the filing says they did not examine the Volume II documents.
  • Volume II remains under the February court seal imposed by Judge Cannon and has not been publicly released despite the inadvertent production.
  • The disclosure has drawn scrutiny from Senate Democrats and other critics because Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche previously represented President Trump, and it may prompt further oversight of DOJ handling of sensitive evidence.