President-elect Trump asked an appeals court to block the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report on both the investigations into him.
Trump’s filing comes after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals allowed Trump to intervene in a challenge brought by his two co-defendants in the Mar-a-Lago case.
Trump had previously asked Garland to block the report, but the Thursday filing is his first in court.
Trump continued arguments that proved successful in a lower court, arguing Smith can’t release his report because he was not properly appointed. Prosecutors have appealed a ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon siding with Trump in the matter.
“[Attorney General Merrick] Garland cannot issue the Final Report because Smith is invalidly appointed,” Trump’s legal team wrote.
“There is, therefore, no authority for Smith to do anything that he did.”
The appeals court has yet to issue a ruling on Smith’s status but now finds itself at the center of the battle to block him from releasing his report.
Garland said earlier this week he planned only to release the volume of Smith’s report dealing with Trump’s effort to subvert the transfer of power after losing the 2020 election.
“The government ignores the fact the Volumes cross-reference each other; they are not siloed,” they wrote.
Trump’s attorneys also argue his plans to share the volume of the report with leaders of both chambers’ Judiciary Committees should be blocked by the court.
“There is no way to stop those members or their staff from leaking the complete report, especially to attack President Trump,” the filing argues.
Prosecutors have argued that Smith was lawfully appointed and that special counsel laws require a written report summarizing his findings.
“As I have made clear regarding every Special Counsel who has serve since I took office, I am committed to making as much of the Special Counsel’s report public as possible, consistent with legal requirements and Department policy,” Garland wrote.
