A federal judge has dismissed The New York Times’ lawsuit seeking access to Volume II of former special counsel Jack Smith’s report on the Mar-a-Lago case involving President Donald Trump.
U.S. District Judge Gregory Woods of the Southern District of New York issued the ruling on Thursday, siding with the Department of Justice. Woods, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, explained that he would not overrule the jurisdiction of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who had issued a permanent injunction blocking the report’s release.
“Because the Court declines to hold that Judge Cannon lacked jurisdiction to issue her injunction, the Court finds that the DOJ is not improperly withholding Volume II of the Special Counsel’s report,” Woods wrote. “The DOJ’s motion to dismiss in this action is therefore GRANTED.”
The Justice Department argued in July that the Times’ case could not succeed because Cannon’s injunction remained in effect. The Times’ attorneys countered that the injunction was a legal “nullity” and that Cannon had no authority to issue it.
Cannon, appointed by Trump, dismissed the classified documents prosecution against him and declared Smith’s appointment as special counsel invalid. In January, she also issued the injunction at the center of the dispute, while criminal appeals were still active for Trump’s aide Waltine Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira.
Days later, the Justice Department, Nauta, and de Oliveira all agreed to drop their appeals, leading the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to close the case on February 11.
As the Times’ lawsuit continued, nonprofit groups filed motions in Cannon’s court in February seeking to intervene and press for disclosure of Volume II. In July, the Knight First Amendment Institute and American Oversight urged Cannon to rule on their requests, reminding her that more than 90 days had passed since their briefs were filed.
Despite those reminders, Cannon has taken no action. “The motions to intervene remain pending before Judge Cannon,” Woods noted. He added that the Times did not “overcome the presumptive validity of Judge Cannon’s jurisdiction to issue the Permanent Injunction.”
Woods concluded that since the nonprofit groups are actively pursuing efforts to “modify[] or vacat[e]” the injunction, and Cannon has yet to act, he would not compel the Justice Department to disclose the report.
“The prospective intervenors in the Florida Criminal Case are currently representing the interests of those seeking disclosure of Volume II; the Court will not order the DOJ to do so as well,” Woods said.