What’s in Jack Smith’s final report on the Trump probes? Recent filings provide some clues

(WASHINGTON) -- Attorneys for President-elect Donald Trump and his allies unleashed a legal blitz this week to prevent the release of special counsel Jack Smith's final report on his classified documents and election interference investigations, successfully convincing the federal judge who dismissed Trump's documents case to issue an emergency injunction temporarily blocking the report's release.

While Smith has released many of his findings already -- through four indictments and a lengthy filing outlining the evidence against Trump -- recent disclosures made by attorneys for Trump and his co-defendants suggest that the special counsel's final report could contain previously undisclosed details that are potentially damaging to the president elect.

Trump's lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, who reviewed a draft version of the report over the weekend, argued in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland Monday that the report's release would be a "partisan weapon" and "lawless political stunt, designed to politically harm" President-elect Trump and his allies.

According to Trump's lawyers, a draft of the report included multiple "baseless attacks" on members of Trump's incoming presidential administration that could "interfere with upcoming confirmation hearings."

The letter did not provide any additional information about which, if any, of Trump's nominees or appointees were mentioned in the report.

According to a court filing from Trump's defense lawyers Monday, a draft version of the report asserts that Trump "engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort," violated multiple federal laws, and served as the "head" of multiple criminal conspiracies.

Trump pleaded not guilty in 2023 to charges of unlawfully retaining classified materials after leaving the White House, and, in a separate case, pleaded not guilty to charges of undertaking a "criminal scheme" to overturn the results of the 2020 election. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case this past July after deeming Smith's appointment unconstitutional, leading Smith to appeal that decision.

Smith, who is now winding down both his cases against the president-elect due to a longstanding Department of Justice policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president, has not provided any details about the contents of his report. Smith's team has accused Trump's attorneys of violating a confidentiality agreement by making portions of their findings public in their filings.

Special counsels are mandated by internal Justice Department regulations to prepare confidential reports at the conclusion of their investigations to summarize their findings, and the attorney general can determine whether to release the report publicly. Smith's report includes two volumes, covering his investigation into Trump's alleged retention of classified documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Trump's lawyers argued that the report's release would disrupt the ongoing presidential transition process and "exacerbate stigma and public opprobrium surrounding the Chief Executive," suggesting that the report -- which is being prepared by a prosecutor independent from the president -- contradicts the Biden administration's vow to "facilitate an orderly and collegial transition process."

"It'll be a fake report, just like it was a fake investigation," Trump said at a news conference Tuesday at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Trump's lawyers also suggested that the report included a "pathetically transparent tirade" about social media platform X's effort to "protect civil liberties."

ABC News previously reported that X -- then known as Twitter -- was held in contempt and fined $350,000 for failing to comply with a search warrant for records and data from former President Trump's social media account. X's owner, Elon Musk, is now one of Trump's most vocal supporters and advisers, and spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect Trump.

Blanche and Bove -- both of whom Trump has picked for top Justice Department posts in the incoming administration -- have argued that the report's release would only offer a single-sided view of the case and give "rise to a media storm of false and unfair criticism" that Trump would need to address during the transition period.

While Trump is no longer being prosecuted by Smith, his two former co-defendants in the classified documents case have argued they would be unable to have a fair trial if the findings are released publicly. Lawyers for Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira have claimed that the report would reveal sensitive grand jury material -- such as communications obtained via a subpoena -- and support the finding that "everyone Smith charged is guilty of the crimes charged."

Describing Smith as a "rogue actor with a personal and political vendetta," lawyers for Trump's co-defendants argued in a filing that the report would irreparably bias the public by amplifying the government's "narrative" without providing Trump and his co-defendants the ability to respond.

"Smith's planned Final Report -- now that he is unshackled from due process requirements that restrained him as a government actor -- would engender the very prejudice, passion, and excitement and be an exercise of the tyrannical power that our court system is designed to insulate against," the filing said.

In a brief filing Tuesday, a lawyer on Smith's staff confirmed that the special counsel's office is "working to finalize" its report, and said that Garland will have the final say over what material will be made public.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.