On February 24, 2025, the Knight Institute filed a motion to intervene asking Judge Aileen Cannon, who presided over the now-abandoned prosecution of President Trump under the Espionage Act, to release Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report about Trump’s mishandling of classified information at Mar-a-Lago. The public has an extraordinary interest in the report, which concerns allegations of grave criminal conduct by the nation’s highest-ranking official. Its release would shed light on the scope and integrity of the Special Counsel’s investigation and on the character and actions of President Trump.

The Institute’s motion to intervene argues that a redacted copy of the report in the district court’s files should be made public under the First Amendment and common law right of access to judicial documents. The motion also asks the court to lift an injunction prohibiting the Department of Justice from releasing the report, which is blocking a Freedom of Information Act request for the report that the Knight Institute filed with DOJ on January 26, 2025.

On December 22, 2025, after what the Eleventh Circuit found was “undue delay” in resolving the motion to intervene, Judge Cannon denied the motion. The Knight Institute appealed the next day. In early February 2026, in response to motions filed by President Trump and his co-defendants asking Judge Cannon to order the destruction of the report, the Institute filed a second motion to intervene in the district court and a mandamus petition in the Eleventh Circuit seeking a stay of district court proceedings pending appeal.

Status: The district court denied the Knight Institute’s motion to intervene on December 22, 2025. On February 9, 2026, the Knight Institute filed an opening brief in the Eleventh Circuit.

Case Information: United States v. Trump, 9:23-cr-80101-AMC (S.D. Fla.), United States v. Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, 25-14507 (11th Cir.).