Goldman, Raskin Lead House Judiciary Democrats in Urging Attorney General Garland to Release Special Counsel's Report on Trump's Classified Documents Case
Members Urge Garland to Drop Cases Against Trump’s Codefendants that Judge Cannon Has Used to Block Report’s Release
Codefendants’ Cases Likely to Be Dropped Following Trump’s January 20th Inauguration
Report Includes Non-Public Information Detailing Trump’s Motivations for Retaining Documents
Read the Letter Here
Washington, D.C. – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) and Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08) today led their Democratic House Judiciary colleagues in sending a letter to Attorney Merrick General Garland urging him to dismiss the Department of Justice’s cases against Trump’s codefendants in order to release ‘Volume 2’ of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on President-elect Trump’s classified documents case.
Though Smith’s report on Trump’s actions in the lead-up to January 6th is now public, federal Judge Eilleen Cannon is currently blocking the release of 'Volume 2’ of the report detailing Trump’s classified documents case, citing the report's potential to prejudice the ongoing cases against Trump’s codefendants. Dismissing the charges against those two codefendants would address Judge Cannon’s concerns and allow the report, which includes non-public information on Trump’s motivations for stealing the documents and what he intended to do with them, to be made available to the public.
“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. 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,” the members said.
‘Volume 2’ of the report includes damaging information currently unknown to the public detailing why Trump stole the classified documents from the White House after leaving office and what he intended to do with them. While Volume 1 – detailing his attempts to overturn the 2020 election – was released on Tuesday night, Trump has been successful in delaying the release of Volume 2 by citing the cases against his two codefendants, Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira.
“The DOJ has taken the position that it will not publicly release the report so long as Mr. Nauta and Mr. De Oliveira’s criminal proceedings remain pending. While we understand your honorable and steadfast adherence to Mr. Nauta’s and Mr. De Oliveira’s due process rights as criminal defendants, the practical effect of this position is that Volume 2 will almost certainly remain concealed for at least four more years if you do not release it before President-elect Trump’s inauguration on January 20,” the members continued.
Following President-elect Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, the Department of Justice was forced to dismiss all charges against him due to their longstanding policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents. Mr. Trump has therefore escaped any criminal punishment related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his attempts to steal classified documents.
“Mr. Trump’s 2024 victory saved him from a public trial and robbed the American people of the opportunity to learn the meaning and details of his unpatriotic, reckless, and intentional abuse of national security information. The public interest, however, now demands that the President-elect must not escape accountability to the American people. Accordingly, to the extent the tangential charges against Mr. Nauta and Mr. De Oliveira stand in the way of the overriding imperative of transparency and truth, the interests of justice demand that their cases be dismissed now so that the entirety of Special Counsel Smith’s report can be released to the American people,” the members concluded.
Read the full letter here or below.
Dear Mr. Attorney General:
We write to urge you to publicly release Special Counsel Jack Smith’s full report on
President-elect Donald Trump’s refusal to return classified documents after he left office.
Over the course of your tenure, in the spirit of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) strong
commitment to independence and transparency, and consistent with the Department’s regulations and historical practices, you have released, in full, without any redactions, three special counsel reports: Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report regarding President Biden’s possession of classified documents, Special Counsel David Weiss’s report regarding Hunter Biden’s tax and gun offenses, and Volume 1 of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report regarding President Trump’s efforts to remain in power after losing the 2020 presidential election.
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. 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. 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.
To the extent that such a decision to dismiss these cases might encourage these
defendants to keep enabling the corruption of their superiors, those 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. Mr. Trump has not been secretive about his plans to weaponize the DOJ for his own personal whims and preferences. He has promised to name a Special Prosecutor to target political opponents, stated he would use the Department to prosecute his enemies, and threatened to “direct the DOJ to investigate” progressive district attorneys who have not supported his personal agenda. And of course, we are all aware that his administration plans to give “loyalty tests,” only extending government positions to those who pledge to put Donald Trump’s interests above the Constitution.
Donald Trump has made it clear that he does not want Special Counsel Smith’s report to see the light of day and has repeatedly sought to prevent disclosure of any part of it. Just two days ago, his lawyers filed a motion—once again—to prevent the public disclosure of both Volume 1 and Volume 2 of his report. Although Volume 1 was released publicly Tuesday night, consistent with the orders of both Judge Eileen Cannon and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Volume 2 remains the subject of litigation. Judge Cannon has scheduled a hearing for January 17 to hear arguments from the litigants regarding the release of Volume 2, and the DOJ has taken the position that it will not publicly release the report so long as Mr. Nauta and Mr. De Oliveira’s criminal proceedings remain pending.9 While we understand your honorable and
steadfast adherence to Mr. Nauta’s and Mr. De Oliveira’s due process rights as criminal defendants, the practical effect of this position is that Volume 2 will almost certainly remain concealed for at least four more years if you do not release it before President-elect Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
Based on a review of court filings by the Special Counsel, this report presumably not
only outlines the evidence supporting the 40 felony counts against Mr. Trump related to willfully hiding and mishandling extremely sensitive national defense information, but also explains why President-elect Trump retained and concealed classified documents and what he intended to do with those materials, neither of which was included in the indictment. It is essential that the American people and Congress understand how Mr. Trump handled our nation’s most sensitive classified information, especially because he will be sworn in as Commander-in-Chief and takes leadership of our national security apparatus in just five days.
We obviously do not condone the sycophantic, delinquent, and criminal behavior that Mr. Nauta and Mr. De Oliveira are charged with. However, Donald Trump was plainly the mastermind of this deception operation to conceal and abuse classified material, a fact made clear by his being charged with 32 counts of willfully retaining these classified documents while his co-defendants were charged with lesser offenses related to obstructing the investigation, largely at Mr. Trump’s direction. By virtue of DOJ policy prohibiting the indictment or prosecution of a sitting president, Mr. Trump has dodged any criminal accountability for his own wrongdoing. Mr. Trump’s 2024 victory saved him from a public trial and robbed the American people of the opportunity to learn the meaning and details of his unpatriotic, reckless, and intentional abuse of national security information. The public interest, however, now demands that the President-elect must not escape accountability to the American people. Accordingly, to the extent the tangential charges against Mr. Nauta and Mr. De Oliveira stand in the way of the overriding imperative of transparency and truth, the interests of justice demand that their cases be dismissed now so that the entirety of Special Counsel Smith’s report can be released to the American people.