Cannon, a Trump appointee, said she saw no legitimate reason to allow anyone in Congress to see the volume of the special counsel report pertaining to Trump’s classified documents case while Trump’s two co-defendants were still facing charges.

Garland wanted to give the top Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate Judiciary committees access to the report, but Cannon observed that none of the lawmakers asked for it.

“With respect to the Department’s assertion of congressional interest in Volume II, there has been no subpoena by Congress for review or release of Volume II,” Cannon wrote.

The classified documents portion of the special counsel report will become subject to the Freedom of Information Act once the two co-defendants’ cases end, meaning it could be released to the public in time. Trump’s DOJ is likely to move to dismiss charges against the co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, thereby terminating the case. At that point, Trump’s DOJ could put up a court fight to try to argue that the special counsel report is exempt from public records laws.

Cannon also scolded prosecutors for arguing that Garland had “limited time” left to make the report available to lawmakers before Trump was sworn into office.

“These statements do not reflect well on the Department,” Cannon wrote. “There is no ‘historical practice’ of providing Special Counsel reports to Congress, even on a limited basis, pending conclusion of criminal proceedings.”

Garland made public the first volume of Smith’s special counsel report last week, giving the former special counsel one final opportunity to address the criminal case he brought against Trump over allegations that the president defrauded the country by denying and illegally attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss.

Trump’s defense team, led by Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, fought to suppress both volumes of the special report, arguing that it was an “unconstitutional, one-sided, falsehood-ridden screed.”

Blanche’s and Bove’s roles changed dramatically overnight with Trump’s inauguration, going from Trump’s personal defense lawyers to Justice Department prosecutors, and they are now positioned to change the DOJ’s stance on the special counsel report and fight to continue keeping the classified documents report under wraps, even after Nauta’s and De Oliveira’s cases disappear. Bove is the Trump administration’s acting deputy attorney general, and Blanche is Trump’s nominee to take that role full-time once confirmed in the Senate.