House Democrats press Merrick Garland on releasing rest of Jack Smith's report
Democrats urged the attorney general to release the remainder of the special counsel's report even if it means dismissing charges against Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira.
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to release the rest of special counsel Jack Smith's report on President-elect Donald Trump's handling of classified documents even if it means dismissing charges against his co-defendants.
Democrats on the panel, led by ranking member Jamie Raskin, of Maryland, said in a letter to Garland that Americans have a "right to know" how the second part of Smith's report details the charges against Trump: that he willfully retained national defense information after he left office and then conspired with two aides at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to obstruct officials from retrieving the records.
"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," they wrote in the letter released Thursday.
Garland has said he wouldn’t make the second volume of Smith’s report, focused on the classified documents case, public while the charges against Nauta and De Oliveira are still being prosecuted.
Democratic lawmakers said in their letter that any concerns that dismissing the case could enable further corruption "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."
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