Justice Department Wants to Release Jan. 6 Insurrection Report, But Not All Details

The Justice Department has made a request to a federal appeals court to allow Attorney General Merrick Garland to release a part of a report by special counsel Jack Smith. This report focuses on the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol before Donald Trump takes office. However, Garland has no plans to release sections of the report that deal with Trump's handling of classified documents. The court was informed of Garland's intentions in a filing made on Wednesday. The claim is that releasing the report would benefit the public and Congress, who are co-equal branches of government. The Justice Department is aiming to lift a current block on the report's release, which was put in place by District Judge Aileen Cannon.

Cannon temporarily halted the release of both volumes of the report after Trump and his co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, asked for it. These two individuals have pleaded not guilty to their charges. The Justice Department is arguing that Nauta and De Oliveira should not be able to stop the rest of the report from being made public. The Justice Department believes that they have no reason to delay the release of the report's volume related to January 6, as it shouldn't create any issues for Nauta and De Oliveira's ongoing cases. Therefore, they are pursuing the court's approval for this selective release.

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