Appeals court allows Trump to further delay hearing on Jack Smith’s documents report

A federal appeals court has pushed back, again, a hearing over whether the public can see special counsel Jack Smith's report on the classified documents prosecution of President Donald Trump. The 11th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals approved the delay on Tuesday, after Trump and two former co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, asked to move the argument off its Nov. 2 date. No new date has been set; the court said only that it would pick a time convenient to the judges and lawyers, according to MS NOW.

Trump's side pointed to his heavy travel and other obligations before the Nov. 3, 2026, midterm elections, which they said would leave his personal lawyers little time to consult him. Nauta's and de Oliveira's attorneys raised more routine calendar conflicts. The court did not say which reason persuaded it.

The volume remains sealed because of orders from Judge Aileen Cannon, who threw out the case before trial in the summer of 2024. Smith's separate report on the election interference case has already come out. American Oversight and the Knight First Amendment Institute are seeking release of the documents volume, and their argument had earlier been repeatedly postponed, at one point to January 2027.

Summarized by PolitiKool from MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at MS NOW →