Trump dossier to be released Friday, federal DC judge rules

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Tanya Chutkan on Thursday issued a ruling which strikes down efforts by former President Donald Trump to block the release of a new dossier in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election case. 

In a five-page ruling, Judge Chutkan outlines that the high public interest in the documents outweighs the argument that they should be hidden until after Election Day. She also rejected Trump's argument that the release of the dossier was election interference, seemingly flipping the script on the defense team's arguments by claiming that the suppression of such evidence itself would be a violation of that doctrine, writing: 

"But litigation’s incidental effects on politics are not the same as a court’s intentional interference with them. As a result, it is in fact Defendant’s requested relief that risks undermining that public interest. If the court withheld information that the public otherwise had a right to access solely because of the potential political consequences of releasing it, that withholding could itself constitute—or appear to be—election interference. The court will therefore continue to keep political considerations out of its decision-making, rather than incorporating them as the Defendant requests." 

Trump's attorneys had previously argued that the documents should be kept under seal until Nov. 14. 

It is not exactly clear what will be in the dossier now set to be released sometime on Friday, or to what extent it will be redacted. The documents lay out the case and alleged evidence that Smith intends to use in an eventual trial against Trump, which were the basis for Smith's 165-page immunity brief filed earlier this month. 

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against him by Smith and has accused the Democrats of politically weaponizing the justice system against him.