The dismissal of criminal charges against Donald Trump for concealing classified records at Mar-a-Lago eliminated a significant barrier to making records about the probe public, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., said Trump’s election as president — which forced the end of the criminal case — combined with the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity mean Trump is effectively insulated from any criminal responsibility for his conduct. That means the FBI’s reasons for refusing to gather and disclose records related to the probe no longer apply, Howell wrote in a Freedom of Information Act case brought by journalist Jason Leopold, Politico reports.
While the dismissal of charges against Trump may have reduced his criminal exposure, it “ironically” made him more susceptible to public scrutiny for his conduct, Howell said. The Supreme Court ruling "has left a FOIA request as a critical tool for the American public to keep apprised of a president’s conduct,” Howell ruled.
She ordered the FBI to comb its records for documents responsive to the FOIA request and confer with Leopold about a timetable for release. Howell’s ruling comes amid an effort by public interest groups and congressional Democrats to access former special counsel Jack Smith’s final report on Trump’s concealment of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after his first term. Trump faced dozens of felony charges in the case until they were dismissed by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon.
Comments