The United States’s motion to dismiss the classified documents charges against President Trump’s two erstwhile employees and co-defendants — Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira — marks the denouement of what some once reckoned was the strongest criminal case against President Trump on account of the evidence found at Mar-a-Lago. It is a final defeat for Special Counsel Jack Smith.

The request for dismissal from the U.S. Department of Justice is unopposed by Messrs. Nauta and De Oliveira, who faced various charges of conspiracy and obstruction for their alleged roles in thwarting the government’s efforts to recover the secret documents stashed at Mar-a-Lago. The United States is asking for the charges to be dismissed “with prejudice,” meaning that they could not be refiled. 

The request came to the 11th United States Appeals Circuit. President Biden’s Department of Justice had asked that tribunal to overturn Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling that Mr. Smith was unlawfully appointed without statutory authority or confirmation by the Senate. She ordered the dismissal of all charges. Mr. Smith appealed that decision. 

After the appeal was docketed, though, Mr. Trump defeated Vice President Harris in November’s presidential election. The Department of Justice determined that sitting presidents possess “categorical” immunity from criminal prosecution, and Mr. Smith was obligated to give up his two cases against Mr. Trump. The special counsel blames “circumstances” for these retreats, and wrote in a court filing that his belief in the “merits” of his prosecutions is unshaken. 

Mr. Smith’s dismissal of charges against Mr. Trump, though, did not apply to the 47th president’s valet, Mr. Nauta, or Mar-a-Lago’s property manager, Mr. De Oliveira. The ongoing nature of the criminal proceedings against the two men, Judge Cannon reasoned, precluded the release of the volume of Mr. Smith’s final report that covered the Mar-a-Lago case. She allowed the release of the section of that dossier that pertained to the election interference case against Mr. Trump. 

Judge Cannon, in her decision to block the release of the election interference report, cited the “two individuals in this action, each with constitutional rights to a fair trial, who remain subject to a live criminal appeal.” Attorney General Garland sought to release the report to congressional leaders on the condition that they not disclose it to a wider public and only view it “in camera.” 

Judge Cannon reasoned: “Given the very strong public interest in this criminal proceeding and the absence of any enforceable limits on the proposed disclosure, there is certainly a reasonable likelihood that review by members of Congress as proposed will result in public dissemination.”

The judge’s order declared that “there is no ‘historical practice’ of providing Special Counsel reports to Congress, even on a limited basis, pending conclusion of criminal proceedings. In fact, there is not one instance of this happening until now.” She was unpersuaded that Mr. Trump’s inauguration imposed any legally cognizable urgency on the report’s release. During oral arguments, she asked the Biden administration: “At the end of the day, what’s the urgency of doing this right now?”

If the 11th Circuit grants the United States’s request to drop the appeal — the petition is signed by the United States attorney, Hayden O’Byrne, Judge Cannon’s logic for blocking the report’s release will no longer hold. While Mr. Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, may or may not authorize its dissemination, a legal challenge could ensue. It is not immediately clear, though, who would possess standing to force its publication.

Judge Cannon, who reviewed the dossier, contends that it contains “detailed and voluminous discovery information” comprising interview transcripts, search warrant materials, business records, toll records, video footage … and other non-public information.” Mr. Smith’s volume on January 6 amounted to a full-throated defense of his ability to convict Mr. Trump “but for” the results of November’s election.