Appeals court won't block partial release of special counsel Jack Smith's Trump report
CBSN
Washington — A federal appeals court in Atlanta on Thursday rejected a bid to block the release of a portion of special counsel Jack Smith's final report detailing his investigation and prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump stemming from an alleged plan to subvert the transfer of power after the 2020 election.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit denied the request from Walt Nauta, an aide to Trump, and Carlos de Oliveira, the former property manager at Mar-a-Lago, who were charged for their role in allegedly obstructing a separate federal investigation into Trump's handling of sensitive government records.
The 11th Circuit granted Smith's request to drop Trump from the case in late November after he was elected to a second term in the White House because of a Justice Department policy that forbids the prosecution of a sitting president. But federal prosecutors are moving forward with the appeal of a lower court decision dismissing the charges against Nauta and de Oliveira on the grounds Smith was unconstitutionally appointed.
