U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Monday permanently barred the release of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents, preventing the Justice Department from disclosing the findings outside the agency.

The ruling stems from Smith’s investigation into allegations that Trump retained sensitive documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving office and obstructed efforts to retrieve them. Smith produced a two-volume report covering both the classified documents case and a separate probe into Trump’s actions following the 2020 presidential election. Both cases resulted in indictments that were later abandoned after Trump’s November 2024 election victory, in accordance with longstanding Justice Department policy that sitting presidents cannot be federally prosecuted.

Attorney General Pam Bondi had previously determined that the report constituted an internal, privileged communication that should not be released publicly. The Trump administration has described the investigation as politically motivated and argued in court filings that the report belongs in the “dustbin of history.”

Cannon’s order applies not only to Bondi but to her successors, effectively blocking any future effort by the department to publish the report. In her opinion, Cannon wrote that Smith “acting without lawful authority” obtained the indictment and initiated proceedings that ultimately ended in dismissal. She emphasized that Trump and his co-defendants retain the presumption of innocence, stating that releasing the report would undermine that constitutional principle.

The classified documents case had been viewed as one of the most significant of the four criminal matters brought against Trump. Cannon dismissed the case in 2024 after concluding that Smith’s appointment as special counsel was unlawful.

Advocacy groups, including the Knight First Amendment Institute, have argued for public release of the report and may seek further review in higher courts. For now, however, the report will remain confidential under Cannon’s permanent injunction.