With less than two weeks until President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office, prosecutors have shown no signs of slowing down from using the death to attack him.

In New York, Judge Juan Marchand is scheduled to sentence Mr. Trump on Friday, and Mr. Trump has asked the Supreme Court to block the sentence. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is proceeding with the release of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s final report after Judge Eileen Cannon blocked its release.

“There is no question that Merrick Garland plans to release Special Counsel Jack Smith’s final report, likely because Judge Juan Machan is likely to rule on President-elect Trump this Friday. “It’s for the same reason that we’re doing it, and to do a last-minute investigation right before President Trump’s inauguration,” John Malcolm, deputy director of the Heritage Foundation’s Institute for Constitutional Politics, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. .

Mr Malcolm noted that after determining Mr Cannon’s appointment was unconstitutional, it remained an “open question” whether Mr Smith had the authority to write the report.

Department of Justice as shown in filing On Wednesday, the first part of Mr. Smith’s report on the 2020 election investigation will be released, which will “serve the public interest by informing our peers and the public on this important issue.” “To promote this,” he pointed out.

According to one report, Mr. Smith has already handed over the entire two-volume report to Attorney General Merrick Garland. filing In the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Garland has decided not to release the second volume of his report, which focuses on Mr. Trump’s classified documents case, while the case against Mr. Trump’s co-defendants is ongoing.

Both of Smith’s lawsuits against Trump were dismissed after the president won, but the Justice Department did not drop charges against Trump’s co-defendants in the classified documents case.

Cannon on Tuesday blocked the Justice Department from releasing Smith’s report until the 11th Circuit rules.

Although Trump is no longer a direct party to the case, he filed a court filing. easy On Wednesday, Garland argued that “we cannot issue a report on a special counsel who was unconstitutionally appointed and funded.” Releasing the final report now would also violate presidential transition law, his lawyers said in a prepared statement.

“In short, publication of the final report risks stigma and censure as great as, or worse than, indictment, and therefore constitutes an equal or greater violation of the exercise of executive power, and completely defeats the intent of Congress.” “in the Presidential Transition Act,” the brief explains.

“Transparency is critical, but it should not come at the expense of justice or constitutional order,” former federal prosecutor Andrew Czerkasky told DCNF.

“Given the unique national interests at stake, including the ongoing presidential transition and the need to restore public confidence, the Attorney General is exercising caution and postponing release pending appropriate review by the incoming administration.” “We should,” he told DCNF. .

Cherkasky said he was also concerned about “the urgency of moving complex and novel legal issues.”

“Once published, a report cannot be retracted, it cannot be retracted in court, and the Court of Appeals can take its time to consider it, but it does take into consideration the days leading up to AG Garland’s departure.” The review, then, is short-sighted and clearly political, “Post,” he said. “This is the highest court law in a dismissed case. It is outrageous to think that Smith would not have attempted to release this report while the case was pending. It is rarely made public because it exposes their strategy.”

🚨🚨🚨Frommer AG Meese and Professor Calabresi submitted amicus curiae evidence in Trump’s Supreme Court stay application. Refusal to stay became even more difficult.

— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) January 9, 2025

“Prosecutor of a certain county”

If President Trump wants to avoid a sentencing hearing in New York scheduled for Friday at 9:30 a.m. ET, another attempt by him to block the hearing will be announced by a New York Supreme Court judge. Following the rejection, the Supreme Court will likely have to issue a ruling on Thursday. court.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Thursday urged the justices to proceed with the hearing, saying there was “no basis” for taking “the unusual step of intervening in a pending state criminal case.” (Related: Jack Smith could face ‘significant consequences’ in year-long legal campaign against Trump)

“It is an axiom that there can only be one President at a time,” Bragg’s brief states. “Non-government employees shall not perform their official duties that would be compromised by the conclusion of a criminal proceeding against a private citizen.”

Former Attorney General Edwin Meese III and Northwestern Law Professor Stephen G. Calabresi wrote in court. easy “At this point, it is unacceptable that a county prosecutor in one state could potentially damage the president’s reputation and diminish his ability to carry out his broad duties.”

“Furthermore, there are currently approximately 2,300 county prosecutors in 50 states, some of whom are highly partisan,” they wrote. “This court should not allow such prosecutors to undermine the ability of the president or the president-elect as certified by Congress to do his job.”
mission. ”

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