Latest Breaking News

BumRushDaShow

(168,458 posts) Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:02 AM Feb 23

Judge blocks release of special counsel Jack Smith's report on Trump classified documents case

Source: AP

Updated 9:54 AM EST, February 23, 2026

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Monday permanently barred the release of a report by special counsel Jack Smith on his investigation into President Donald Trump’s hoarding of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, granted a request from the Republican president to keep under wraps the report on a criminal investigation once seen as posing significant legal peril to Trump.

Smith and his team produced a two-volume report on investigations into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election after he lost to Joe Biden and his retention of classified documents at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, after he left the White House following his first term.

Both investigations produced indictments that were abandoned by Smith’s team after Trump’s November 2024 election win in light of longstanding Justice Department legal opinions that say sitting presidents cannot face federal prosecution.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-jack-smith-3a86d9c12f18b4dfe648e539925d72a2

Just breaking.

42 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Judge blocks release of special counsel Jack Smith's report on Trump classified documents case (Original Post) BumRushDaShow Feb 23 OP

Must be a Scotus member about to retire. ananda Feb 23 #1

I'm hearing Alito may be going before the end of 2026. ABC123Easy Feb 23 #30

Of course she did. What a surprise. Ocelot II Feb 23 #2

Shit. lamp_shade Feb 23 #3

Cannon's corruption is totally predictable. C_U_L8R Feb 23 #4

SHE was the deal breaker that kept TSF out of prison. bluestarone Feb 23 #20

Calling on Neal Katyal. gab13by13 Feb 23 #5

She's overstepping....................... Lovie777 Feb 23 #6

she is over stepping right up to the supreme court rampartd Feb 23 #26

Shouldn't a decision that important be made by more than one person? imaginary girl Feb 23 #7

Yes, and I'm sure there will be an appeal. Ocelot II Feb 23 #13

Such a simple and obvious question. Indeed! yellow dahlia Feb 23 #40

Permanent until someone in the House puts together another discharge petition. Hugin Feb 23 #8

Doesn't Justice Cannon have a conflict of interest ruling on anything having to do with Smith??? ... marble falls Feb 23 #9

Conflict of interest with SMITH? ScratchCat Feb 23 #17

Conflict of interest with ruling on anything having to do with Smith. I said it, I fucking meant it. marble falls Feb 23 #27

I suspect that Cannon will replace Thomas or Alito before Trump leaves. walkingman Feb 23 #10

Do we think she would get confirmed in the Senate? Another reason we need to win the Senate. Katinfl Feb 23 #35

Unless we win the Senate I think it is a given and if it is even close - there always seems to be some defectors. walkingman Feb 23 #38

Why did I know that it would be Cannon? Botany Feb 23 #11

Time to Appeal eringer Feb 23 #12

Exactly right. They can delay. That's it. marble falls Feb 23 #28

She is unqualified to do the job she holds. City Lights Feb 23 #14

Deadline Legal Blog-Judge Cannon blocks release of Jack Smith's classified documents report LetMyPeopleVote Feb 23 #15

Read the shit ScratchCat Feb 23 #16

My guess here is bluestarone Feb 23 #18

"Loose" Cannon... GiqueCee Feb 23 #19

The 11th circuit will rule against her, BUT bluestarone Feb 23 #21

Leak the damn thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AverageOldGuy Feb 23 #22

Agreed! That might be the best course, if someone has the courage to do it. TheRickles Feb 23 #34

Fucking Aileen Cannon. I knew it. Ray Bruns Feb 23 #23

She is protecting Trump..but what can be done about it? Playingmantis Feb 23 #24

"Without Cannon's order, Smith's report was set to become public on Tuesday." riversedge Feb 23 #25

I have chime in here again, because i'm so fucking upset about this. (even though i KNEW she would do this) bluestarone Feb 23 #29

I consider Cannon to be one of the co-conspirators JoseBalow Feb 23 #31

Who was the Federal Judge that blocked it permanently? oldmanlynn Feb 23 #32

Have you read the thread? Aileen Cannon. Katinfl Feb 23 #36

The myth, "No one is above the law". republianmushroom Feb 23 #33

The Cannon Cover-up continues. Hassler Feb 23 #37

She needs to be impeached and removed Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Feb 23 #39

I know that technically and legally the attribution doesn't apply, but... yellow dahlia Feb 23 #41

Trump admitted to insiders that Jack Smith had him 'dead to rights': report LetMyPeopleVote Feb 24 #42

ananda

(34,839 posts)

1. Must be a Scotus member about to retire.

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:05 AM

Feb 23

Sheesh

ABC123Easy

(221 posts)

30. I'm hearing Alito may be going before the end of 2026.

Reply to ananda (Reply #1)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 11:38 AM

Feb 23

Ocelot II

(130,165 posts)

2. Of course she did. What a surprise.

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:07 AM

Feb 23

lamp_shade

(15,449 posts)

3. Shit.

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:07 AM

Feb 23

C_U_L8R

(49,265 posts)

4. Cannon's corruption is totally predictable.

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:08 AM

Feb 23

How soon will her complicity be overturned?

bluestarone

(21,992 posts)

20. SHE was the deal breaker that kept TSF out of prison.

Reply to C_U_L8R (Reply #4)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:57 AM

Feb 23

It's ALL on her!!

gab13by13

(31,922 posts)

5. Calling on Neal Katyal.

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:10 AM

Feb 23

Lovie777

(22,670 posts)

6. She's overstepping.......................

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:13 AM

Feb 23

time for her to resign.

rampartd

(4,484 posts)

26. she is over stepping right up to the supreme court

Reply to Lovie777 (Reply #6)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 11:30 AM

Feb 23

just as soon as one of trump's "foreign influenced justices" resigns or is killed off.

imaginary girl

(1,021 posts)

7. Shouldn't a decision that important be made by more than one person?

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:13 AM

Feb 23

Is there a way to appeal to a larger group or different individual?

Ocelot II

(130,165 posts)

13. Yes, and I'm sure there will be an appeal.

Reply to imaginary girl (Reply #7)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:31 AM

Feb 23

yellow dahlia

(5,552 posts)

40. Such a simple and obvious question. Indeed!

Reply to imaginary girl (Reply #7)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:43 PM

Feb 23

Hugin

(37,760 posts)

8. Permanent until someone in the House puts together another discharge petition.

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:13 AM

Feb 23

That seems to be how things are done lately.

marble falls

(71,594 posts)

9. Doesn't Justice Cannon have a conflict of interest ruling on anything having to do with Smith??? ...

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:14 AM

Feb 23

... time to appeal to the next level.

ScratchCat

(2,731 posts)

17. Conflict of interest with SMITH?

Reply to marble falls (Reply #9)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:49 AM

Feb 23

With SMITH?

No, with DONALD FUCKING TRUMP!!

Every judge in her district told he she legally had to decline the case because he appointed her, and she gave them the finger. Every other judge in her district knows she is a corrupt hack.

marble falls

(71,594 posts)

27. Conflict of interest with ruling on anything having to do with Smith. I said it, I fucking meant it.

Reply to ScratchCat (Reply #17)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 11:33 AM

Feb 23

walkingman

(10,692 posts)

10. I suspect that Cannon will replace Thomas or Alito before Trump leaves.

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:16 AM

Feb 23

Katinfl

(759 posts)

35. Do we think she would get confirmed in the Senate? Another reason we need to win the Senate.

Reply to walkingman (Reply #10)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 12:04 PM

Feb 23

walkingman

(10,692 posts)

38. Unless we win the Senate I think it is a given and if it is even close - there always seems to be some defectors.

Reply to Katinfl (Reply #35)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 01:24 PM

Feb 23

Botany

(77,037 posts)

11. Why did I know that it would be Cannon?

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:22 AM

Feb 23

Her #1 job from her bosses called Federalist Society is to protect Trump.

https://thiswillhold.substack.com/p/she-won-part-ii-seven-judges-direct

Your Seat Awaits, Judge Cannon

Just seven days after Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden, the Senate rammed through Judge Aileen Cannon—a Federalist Society loyalist—to the federal bench, again via the nuclear option. The seat? It would later oversee Trump’s classified documents case.

Think about that. Before he even walked out of the White House with stolen materials and a failed insurrection attempt, Donald Trump had already secured the judge who would protect him. He wasn't just breaking the law—he was fortifying his legal escape route in advance, with an assist from Senate Republicans.

By mid-2022, Judge Cannon was the only active judge in Florida’s Fort Pierce division. Trump’s legal team took full advantage, filing his case in person—in violation of standard protocol—which all but guaranteed it would land on her desk. That week, Cannon was assigned 9 of 29 new cases—over 30%, nearly triple the norm. Despite calls for recusal, she refused. She stayed. And she stalled.

eringer

(523 posts)

12. Time to Appeal

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:29 AM

Feb 23

Nothing is permanently blocked. That is nonsense. Time to appeal
The judges decision.

marble falls

(71,594 posts)

28. Exactly right. They can delay. That's it.

Reply to eringer (Reply #12)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 11:34 AM

Feb 23

City Lights

(25,647 posts)

14. She is unqualified to do the job she holds.

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:38 AM

Feb 23

She is nothing but a partisan hack.

LetMyPeopleVote

(178,411 posts)

15. Deadline Legal Blog-Judge Cannon blocks release of Jack Smith's classified documents report

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:43 AM

Feb 23

The Trump appointee had previously dismissed the criminal case against Trump on the grounds that the special counsel was unlawfully appointed.

BREAKING: Judge Cannon blocks release of Jack Smithâ€™s classified documents report

READ MORE: www.ms.now/deadline-whi...
— MS NOW (@ms.now) 2026-02-23T15:04:19.584Z

https://www.ms.now/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/judge-cannon-blocks-release-of-jack-smiths-classified-documents-report

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon granted a request from President Donald Trump and his former co-defendants to block the release of Jack Smith’s report on the classified documents case he brought against Trump.

Cannon had dismissed the case in 2024 when Trump was running for president. The Justice Department was appealing her order, but dropped the appeal when he won the election, due to the DOJ’s policy against prosecuting sitting presidents.

Explaining her reasoning on Monday, the Trump-appointed judge wrote, in part, that “there is the matter of manifest injustice to the former defendants that would result from disclosure of Volume II. Special Counsel Smith, acting without lawful authority, obtained an indictment in this action and initiated proceedings that resulted in a final order of dismissal of all charges.”....

Cannon rejected a defense request to order the report’s destruction.

The 11th Circuit has reversed this idiot judge several times. I am looking forward to seeing this idiot reversed yet again

ScratchCat

(2,731 posts)

16. Read the shit

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:47 AM

Feb 23

She literally cites Trump's insistence that he is innocent as a reason to not release it.

This will be appealed and the DCA will overrule her. The entire basis of her ruling is that its not fair to Trump for this to be released and he should be considered innocent because she(Cannon) dismissed the case for him.

bluestarone

(21,992 posts)

18. My guess here is

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:55 AM

Feb 23

TSF promised her to choose her for a supreme court judge appointment.

GiqueCee

(3,878 posts)

19. "Loose" Cannon...

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:57 AM

Feb 23

... must be impeached and disbarred. Her blatant corruption cannot go unchallenged.

And, though I've said it a thousand times, politicians should never, EVER have anything to do with the selection of judges, or especially SCOTUS Justices. This country has already been corrupted enough by conservative influences. Letting a bag of rancid excrement like Trump hand-pick his own personal judges is intolerable. ALL judges and justices should be required to abjure any political affiliation whatsoever if they are to be considered "impartial".

Sweet Jesus on a pogo stick, my hatred of Der Republican Party burns hotter than the surface of the Sun. They actually welcome crooked slime like Trump and his malignant minions.

bluestarone

(21,992 posts)

21. The 11th circuit will rule against her, BUT

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 11:00 AM

Feb 23

Then this SC will sit on this until end of TSF's term.

AverageOldGuy

(3,691 posts)

22. Leak the damn thing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 11:01 AM

Feb 23

Will she replace Alito after he resigns in a couple of months?

TheRickles

(3,305 posts)

34. Agreed! That might be the best course, if someone has the courage to do it.

Reply to AverageOldGuy (Reply #22)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 11:59 AM

Feb 23

Otherwise, the legal process will take forever.

Ray Bruns

(6,215 posts)

23. Fucking Aileen Cannon. I knew it.

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 11:17 AM

Feb 23

Playingmantis

(600 posts)

24. She is protecting Trump..but what can be done about it?

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 11:25 AM

Feb 23

And they try to tell us this is the most transparent administration in history! BULLSHIT!!

riversedge

(80,419 posts)

25. "Without Cannon's order, Smith's report was set to become public on Tuesday."

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 11:27 AM

Feb 23

Damn!!

bluestarone

(21,992 posts)

29. I have chime in here again, because i'm so fucking upset about this. (even though i KNEW she would do this)

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 11:37 AM

Feb 23

I say WHOEVER KNOWS what this report is about (fine details) they need to RELEASE it no matter what this scumbag says. Jesus Christ our country is gonna disintegrate is things don't stop this BULLSHIT!! On the HOUSE FLOOR!!

JoseBalow

(9,417 posts)

31. I consider Cannon to be one of the co-conspirators

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 11:48 AM

Feb 23

oldmanlynn

(812 posts)

32. Who was the Federal Judge that blocked it permanently?

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 11:50 AM

Feb 23

Katinfl

(759 posts)

36. Have you read the thread? Aileen Cannon.

Reply to oldmanlynn (Reply #32)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 12:06 PM

Feb 23

republianmushroom

(22,237 posts)

33. The myth, "No one is above the law".

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 11:58 AM

Feb 23

is total bull shit. You are if you can buy a Federal judge, and there are some for sale.

Hassler

(4,875 posts)

37. The Cannon Cover-up continues.

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 12:26 PM

Feb 23

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(134,768 posts)

39. She needs to be impeached and removed

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 02:03 PM

Feb 23

yellow dahlia

(5,552 posts)

41. I know that technically and legally the attribution doesn't apply, but...

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Mon Feb 23, 2026, 10:46 PM

Feb 23

in my opinion - she is a traitor to this country.

LetMyPeopleVote

(178,412 posts)

42. Trump admitted to insiders that Jack Smith had him 'dead to rights': report

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Tue Feb 24, 2026, 09:36 AM

Feb 24

trump broke the law and is hoping that Cannon can protect him

Of all the legal problems Donald Trump faced, from accusations of sexual assault to business fraud, he most feared the Florida stolen government documents investigation by special counsel Jack Smith that ended up being dropped when he won re-election.
— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-02-24T12:50:49Z

https://www.rawstory.com/judge-cannon-jack-smith

Of all the legal problems Donald Trump faced, from accusations of sexual assault to business fraud, he most feared the Florida stolen government documents investigation by special counsel Jack Smith that ended up being dropped when he won re-election.

That is according to “Morning Joe” co-host Jonathan Lemire, who reported on the president’s terror at being convicted during a discussion on U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon's Monday ruling that permanently blocked the Justice Department from releasing Smith’s final report.

With MS NOW legal analyst Lisa Rubin once again saying “all bets” would be off if the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decides to intervene, Lemire pointed out that Trump knew he was fortunate that his appointee covered up for him.

After noting there was considerable second-guessing going on after Smith elected to pursue the case in Florida, which led to Cannon’s courtroom, Lemire reported, ”Judge Cannon ended up putting a thumb on the scale significantly for Trump down the line. And you're right, Joe [Scarborough], we've talked about it on this show, Trump has privately told people, you know, more or less that he [Smith] was dead to rights on that one.”

“That was the case, the classified documents case that he feared the most,” he added. “And I know there will be second-guessing for all time in terms of the sequencing of those cases. The one in Manhattan went first, got a conviction, but it seemed to many to be the least serious, and we will never know if things had gone quicker or if the order was changed, what would have happened.“

Reply to this discussion