Democrat members of the House Judiciary Committee called on outgoing 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 doing so means that he must dismiss the charges against Trump's co-defendants.
Led by ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Democrats on the panel sent a letter to Garland arguing that Americans have the "right to know" what the second part of Smith's report contains.
"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 would not release the second volume of Smith's report as long as the cases against Nauta and De Oliveria are still being prosecuted.
In their letter, the Democrats said concerns about further corruption enabled by dismissing the charges "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."
Newsmax reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
After Trump was reelected in November, Smith's team dropped the two federal prosecutions of Trump, including the classified documents case and alleged efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 election, citing the DOJ's policy of not prosecuting a sitting president. Trump entered not guilty pleas in both cases and has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
Smith, who resigned from the DOJ on Jan. 10, saw neither of his cases go to trial. The first volume of his report, released earlier this week, detailed how Trump "inspired his supporters to commit acts of physical violence" when the Capitol was breached on Jan. 6, 2021, and said he knowingly spread false claims about election fraud after losing the presidential race in 2020.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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