Government watchdog group American Oversight asked a federal appeals court on July 27 to overturn a lower court ruling that prevents the public release of former Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on his classified documents investigation into Donald Trump.
In a reply brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, the organization argued that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon erred when she denied its request to intervene in the criminal case involving Trump and co-defendants Waltine Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira.
American Oversight is seeking to dissolve a permanent injunction that bars the federal government from releasing Volume II of the special counsel’s report.
Volume II is a final document prepared for the Department of Justice summarizing the special counsel’s decisions to prosecute or decline charges.
American Oversight maintains that special counsel reports are public records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), subject to standard legal redactions for sensitive grand jury or law enforcement details.
“Intervention in the criminal case is the only way American Oversight can vindicate its FOIA right of access to Volume II,” attorneys for the group wrote in the filing.
The watchdog group argued that while the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure do not explicitly outline third-party intervention, federal courts regularly permit non-parties to step in when their constitutional or federal statutory rights are directly restricted by a court order. American Oversight cautioned that affirming the lower court’s decision would create a problematic standard for government transparency.
Attorneys for the group wrote that upholding the restriction would “effectively allow any former federal defendant in a case of significant public interest to move the court overseeing its criminal proceedings to permanently enjoin the government from releasing information Congress intended to be available to the public.”
The ongoing dispute follows the dismissal of the criminal case in the Southern District of Florida in July 2024. Following the dismissal, defense counsel sought an order prohibiting the release of Volume II, which Judge Cannon granted. American Oversight moved to intervene in early 2025 to challenge the restriction, but the district court denied the motion on the grounds that criminal rules do not provide a mechanism for non-party intervention.
In its filing, American Oversight asked the Eleventh Circuit to review the matter as a question of law, reverse the district court orders denying intervention, and lift the injunction preventing the public release of the document.
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