Special Counsel Jack Smith was dealt a serious blow by U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon earlier this year when she ruled that he lacked the legal authority to prosecute President-elect Donald Trump.

This week saw Cannon once again generate shockwaves by blocking Smith from releasing a report on Trump. 

Defense lawyers filed an emergency motion

According to Breitbart, the Florida federal judge issued a temporary injunction which prohibits sharing the report or its contents "with anyone outside the Department of Justice."

Cannon's decision came after Trump's legal team argued in an emergency motion that the report would harm Trump along with former co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira.

Nauta is a Navy veteran and former valet to Trump while Oliveira served as property manager at the Mar-a-Lago resort. Both men were indicted by Smith for allegedly helping Trump to mishandle classified documents.

"These Defendants will irreparably suffer harm as civilian casualties of the Government’s impermissible and contumacious utilization of political lawfare to include release of the unauthorized Report," Breitbart quoted the motion as stating.

"The Final Report relies on materials to which Smith, as disqualified special counsel, is no longer entitled access — making his attempt to share such materials with the public highly improper," it added.

Washington federal judge unsealed motion prior to election

The motion went on to complain that Smith's document would "be a one-sided, slanted report, relying nearly exclusively on evidence presented to a grand jury and subject to all requisite protections."

While Cannon has rejected Smith's request, Breitbart noted that he has been treated more favorably by Washington, D.C. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.

Less than a month before Americans cast their ballots, Chutkan unsealed a 165-page motion in which Smith laid out a slew of allegations against Trump which had yet to be proven in court.

Breitbart observed that for their part, Smith's team denied that the motion was intended to influence voters and insisted they had "no role or interest in partisan politics."

Attorney general fight to have report released

Meanwhile, Fox News reported on Wednesday that Attorney General Merrick Garland is fighting to have part of Smith's report released before Biden takes office.

Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers argued before the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Wednesday that Cannon's injunction should be lifted from Volume One of Smith's report.

Volume One concerns findings on Trump's alleged efforts to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Garland is not seeking to have the report's second volume made public. It pertains to the president-elect's classified documents case.