Earlier this week, a federal judge put a temporary hold on the report that Special Counsel Jack Smith had prepared detailing his probes into allegations of inappropriate retention of secret records and influence with the 2020 presidential election by President-elect Trump. The report has since been postponed.

The co-defendants of Trump, Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, filed an emergency move to stop what is ostensibly going to be the publishing of Smith's final report, as Fox News reported.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon of the Southern District of Florida sided with Nauta and De Oliveira to "prevent irreparable harm."

As far as Cannon can tell, Smith has been "temporarily enjoined" from "releasing, sharing, or transmitting the Final Report or any drafts of such Report outside the Department of Justice."

Details of the Judge's Order

For three days after the 11th Circuit US Court of Appeals announces a decision, the order will be in force.

It is standard practice for special counsels to release a concluding report detailing their findings and explaining their reasoning behind any decisions to prosecute or decline.

Considering Trump's position as president-elect and the Justice Department's established policy of prosecuting a sitting president, the outcome of Smith's case is irrelevant.

The report would initially be reviewed by the office of Attorney General Merrick Garland, as is customary.

Pressure from the President

Following their three-day access to Smith's office, Trump's lawyers pleaded with Attorney General Merrick Garland in a letter dated Monday to withhold disclosure of the two-volume report.

The legal team representing Trump argued in their letter to Garland that disclosing Smith's findings in the classified documents and federal election conspiracy cases, which concern Trump's efforts to question the 2020 election, would constitute an unlawful intrusion into the transition of power and amount to nothing more than a political attack.

According to the incoming president, it should be up to Trump's administration to decide whether Smith's results should be made public. Furthermore, they strongly advised Garland to swiftly fire Smith from his position, as his term is set to end just before Trump's inauguration.

From the Argument

“Because Smith has proposed an unlawful course of action, you must countermand his plan and remove him promptly,” Trump’s lawyers wrote.

Attorneys for the other defendants in the Trump case said on Tuesday that the president-elect will want to formally intervene in court over the matter soon.

In a joint response issued on Tuesday morning, the Justice Department and Smith stated that Garland had not yet decided whether or not to make the report public and would not do so until January 10.

Based on Smith's statement, the classified papers report will not be submitted to Garland until Tuesday afternoon, if not later.