Overview
- An unsigned order from a three-judge panel held mandamus petitions in abeyance for 60 days to give the district court time to rule on the unsealing motions.
- Judge Aileen Cannon has not acted on February filings seeking the second volume of Jack Smith’s final report, which she kept from public release in January.
- Petitions from the Knight First Amendment Institute and American Oversight were fully briefed by July, and the court found their showing of delay sufficient to warrant intervention.
- Advocacy leaders urged publication, saying continued suppression undermines accountability and that the report should be posted on the public docket without further delay.
- The report relates to the Mar-a-Lago documents probe and lingers after Smith’s criminal cases against the president ended without trial under DOJ policy on prosecuting a sitting president; Cannon had previously dismissed a 37-count indictment following the Supreme Court’s 2024 immunity ruling.