NEW: House Dems tell AG Garland to do whatever it takes to release Jack Smith's final report on Trump's classified docs

[demmiblue]

Kyle Cheney
‪@kyledcheney.bsky.social‬

NEW: House Dems tell AG Garland to do whatever it takes to release Jack Smith’s final report on Trump’s classified docs case — even if it means dropping the charges against his codefendants.

w/ Hailey Fuchs

www.politico.com/live-updates...

https://bsky.app/profile/kyledcheney.bsky.social/post/3lfuei4uy222h

House Judiciary Committee Democrats want Merrick Garland to release a report detailing Donald Trump's mishandling of classified documents.

House Judiciary Committee Democrats are urging Attorney General Merrick Garland, in his final days in office, to release special counsel Jack Smith’s report on Donald Trump’s alleged mishandling and concealment of classified documents — even if it means dropping criminal charges against his alleged accomplices.

“It is essential that the American people and Congress understand how Mr. Trump mishandled our nation’s most sensitive classified information, especially because he will be sworn in as Commander-in-Chief and take leadership of our national security apparatus in just five days,” the Committee Democrats, led by write ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), wrote in a letter obtained by POLITICO.

The Democrats’ call came just days after Garland signaled he intended to maintain the secrecy of Smith’s report on the President-elect’s classified documents case, in part to protect the integrity of the ongoing criminal case against Trump’s former co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos DeOliveira.

Florida-based U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon tossed the case out in July, ruling that Smith was illegally appointed. The Justice Department was seeking to reinstate the charges when Donald Trump won the November election, forcing Smith to dismiss the case against Trump while he worked to reinstate the charges against Nauta and DeOliveira. Trump’s Justice Department is slated to inherit the case next week, and allies expect it to be quickly shelved.

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/01/16/congress/garland-trump-jack-smith-report-00198586

[mobeau69]

1. Time is running out, Garland. Do it now.

[Escurumbele]

24. He is a tool of the repupblican party, Biden should have replaced him many years ago.

Anyone who thinks, or believes that Garland is going to risk being talked harshly by republicans is wrong, this guy is a republican and he seems to be very loyal to his party, on top of it he seems to be very afraid of republicans and trump, so he will not do anything, he has proven that he doesn't care about the rule of law, otherwise he would have done things differently when he was able to do so.

I don't expect him to do anything that can help the country minimize the chaos that is coming. He is a tool, he has done his work for republicans with honors, or whatever "honors" that means.

[Clouds Passing]

53. I expect dump to give him the medal of freedom

[jrthin]

32. First, he'll come out and make a speech saying "no one is above the law."

Then he'll mumble some crap about transparency. Then he'll do nothing but create more space for tfg to escape all consequences.

[Justice matters.]

34. To the republican tool who let the convicted felon use the seal of the President

illegally for FOUR YEARS and DID NOTHING

See the damaging results. History (if there is still one in a decade) will not be kind...

[C_U_L8R]

2. JUST DO IT !

[Kid Berwyn]

3. What country is this where we have to beg for democracy?

We the People run the show, er, I mean until Reichsmarshal Musk and Doktor Bezos say otherwise.

[calimary]

50. Shit. No kidding!

Unfortunately, begging doesn’t often help much, either.

And frankly, WHY THE FUCK should we have to beg to get this done, in the first place???

[Scrivener7]

4. Yeah, but he won't.

[ShazzieB]

40. It doesn't seem likely, but...

A lot of people here didn't think the January 6 report would be released. So unexpected things can happen sometimes.

[berniesandersmittens]

5. Do it!

[Irish_Dem]

6. ha ha

Comedy Gold

[TurboDem]

7. I'm sure he'll get right on that!

I heard there's some guy named trump that he's been thinking about looking into also.

[Buns_of_Fire]

8. THIS is what I always considered to be the open-and-shut case.

Now, just a footnote in whatever history the maggots permit to be published.

[MadameButterfly]

14. This is the case that matters

It will contain things that even Republicans can't stomach.
it will show everyone what is at stake.
It might even prevent Trump from getting away with all-out collusion with Putin.

[VBNMW]

41. Hilarious

EOM

[MadameButterfly]

45. Sorry. What is EOM?

And what is hilarious?

[calimary]

51. I think it's "End Of Message".

[dalton99a]

9. Godamnit, Garland, get your priorities straight. Nauta and DeOliveira are nobodies.

[Think. Again.]

12. But his friends at the federalist society are SOMEBODIES!

[MadameButterfly]

13. and their cases will disappear

once Trump is in office.

[OrangeJoe]

18. Pardons

Trump is going to derail the case &/or pardon them as soon as he’s in office so WTF! Release the report!

[raging moderate]

21. Maybe Biden should pardon these two servants of Trump.

After all, they might have had good reason to fear disobeying Trump.

[Callie1979]

52. Ahhhhhhh! Now there's an idea!

[Escurumbele]

25. His priority is the republican party, and not being spoken harshly by them or trump, he has HIS priorities

in place which do not include the rule of law, or the reason he was made AG. Its treason all over.

[VBNMW]

42. Why does the obvious

Keep needing to be pointed out?

[OneGrassRoot]

10. I feel like I'm in some dystopian mini series. What on earth...

is going on? Why weren't they screaming at the top of their lungs for months? Why have most Dems been relatively silent about fascism since the election? Why did President Biden do a meet-and-greet being all smiles with Trump and then last night issue the appropriate warning?

Do you think something happened between the election and this week that somehow spurred on more urgency by higher-level Dems? It's not like anyone wasn't aware the 20th is in mere days.

[yellow dahlia]

54. Been in scream mode also.

The protocol and decorum and "meet-n-greet" type stuff has been driving me bonkers.

[Think. Again.]

11. garland is working on that, verrrry secretly.

[The Wizard]

15. Can Garland be trusted to

put country first?

[Tetrachloride]

22. My dead milkweed is more use. garland is a decoration

[voteragain]

16. words

the man behind the curtain was known long ago and strongly worded letters full of words.
the curtain has been open for a long time...words are useless when action was needed.

[Native]

17. It needs to be leaked, NOW!

[yellow dahlia]

55. I'm thinking - keystroke

ooops!

[Escape]

19. Where's the media?

Why doesn't somebody confront the wimpy sonofabitch, stick a microphone in his face and make him answer for his 4 years of cowardice?

[VBNMW]

43. Jesus Christ

We don’t have a free press, fourth estate in this country. Corporate media is partially why we’re here. Independent media gets knocked over the head and dragged off in cuffs and mocked even here.

[Oliver Bolliver Butt]

20. As if Walt Nutta and Carlos De Oliveira will still be defendants next week

[Magoo48]

23. We want what we paid for and belongs to us.

[LSparkle]

26. All I want is the truth -- just gimme some truth (J. Lennon)

[yellow dahlia]

56. Indeed

[republianmushroom]

27. Hopefully he will do so,

but, this is Merrick the Meek, we speak of. so it is questionable that it will be done.

[gab13by13]

28. BWAHAHAHAHA

That would be partisan, Garland's own words.

[no_hypocrisy]

29. Road to Redemption Merrick

[Bluetus]

30. Biden could do it this afternoon

This clearly would be covered by the "official acts" definition of the SCOTUS' "Nixon Rule", to wit, if the President does it, then it is legal.

[gab13by13]

35. I don't think so.

This Supreme Court would rule that if Biden released the report it would not be his official duty. The SC would rule that it is up to Garland, not Biden.

[Bluetus]

39. If Biden had no courage for that, then he simply

could have ordered Garland to end the Florida cases and release the report. Trump is going to end them anyway.

Sorry, I can't praise Biden for making a speech warning us about these people when he isn't willing to do even the very minimum things in his power to protect our democracy.

Meanwhile, the Postrmaster General that Biden would not replace (*) is planning to cancel the order for electric delivery trucks from Oshkosh and replace them with another 20-year batch of gas engine trucks.

* And spare me arguments about how Biden didn't have the power to can DeJoy. He did. He has already named a majority of the Postal Board, and left other positions vacant for over a year. Obviously he decided to select people who would suck up to DeJoy.

I know Trump is going to be misery for everyone, but let's get it over and move on to a generation of leaders who will actually fight for the things we need. When Democrats refuse to use the powers the voters give them, we cannot be surprised when the voters see no reason to come out for us.

[VBNMW]

47. Thank you!

EOM

[VBNMW]

46. Wrong

Biden is still president. They already ruled presidents can’t commit crimes while carrying the title. No backsies.

[yellow dahlia]

58. Good point...unfortunately.

They left the definition open to interpretation - their interpretations.

[VBNMW]

44. The day Biden was made king

He abdicated those powers. The same powers he could’ve used to save the democracy he claimed was in imminent danger.

Drumpf will use those powers on day one.

Why?!?

Also, who do I vote for to keep republicans out of office? Drumpf gave us a Republican AG, Biden gave us a Republican AG, Kamala promised MORE fucking republicans, some here even suggesting birther and liar Liz Cheney as AG. Like WTF?!?

[yellow dahlia]

57. I concur.

[Emile]

31. Patience, he's dotting the i's and crossing the t's.

[thebigidea]

37. I'm just glad I had total experts without law degrees like Marcy Wheeler to set me straight on this!

Her total lack of experience and connections with DOJ sure made for compelling legal arguments over the last decade!

[Emile]

38. I'm just glad after waiting for justice for four years

not to make excuses for Garland anymore.

[Javaman]

33. he'll do it...eventually. maybe after a nap or I think he said something about waxing his car forever. nt

[thebigidea]

36. But surely one side asking for it is political, and Saint Garland can't possibly give the appearance of being political

So he'd decline just based on the fact that only Dems want it released, surely?

[ThoughtCriminal]

48. Garland knows that Bondi will drop the charges against the co-defendants

So there really is no reason not to release them now.

Bottom line: the only reason that Garland doesn't release them is that he does not want us to see them.

[Rebl2]

49. He won't

listen. Doesn’t want to get on orange thing’s bad side.