Overview
- U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Feb. 23, 2026, prohibited the Justice Department from releasing or sharing Volume II of Jack Smith’s final report outside the department, binding current and future attorneys general.
- Cannon said disclosure would be a “manifest injustice” to President Donald Trump and co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, stressing their presumption of innocence after she dismissed the case in 2024.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi had deemed the report a confidential, deliberative DOJ document, and government lawyers supported keeping it internal in light of Cannon’s appointments-clause ruling.
- The judge noted the report contains protected discovery and other sensitive material, and she criticized Smith for preparing it after her dismissal order; some outlets reported it had been slated for public release Tuesday.
- Transparency groups American Oversight and the Knight First Amendment Institute have active appeals seeking unsealing, while Cannon rejected a separate request to order the report’s destruction.