Garland urged to abandon charges, release Smith report's second part by House Dems.

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Democrats wrote a letter to Merrick Garland, the outgoing U.S. Attorney General, requesting that he dismiss the charges against President-elect Donald Trump's former co-defendants in the classified documents case.

Garland will not release the second volume of Special Counsel Jack Smith's report because both Walt Nauta, Trump's valet, and Carlos De Oliveira, the property manager of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, still face prosecution.

If the Democrats are correct that Trump will pardon both men, Garland should drop the charges or the report will not be released.

The letter obtained by Planet Chronicle states that while we respect your commitment to upholding the due process rights of Mr. Nauta and Mr. De Oliveira as criminal defendants, the practical outcome of this stance is that Volume 2 will likely remain hidden for at least four more years unless it is released before President-elect Trump's inauguration on January 20.

"To ensure transparency and truth, the public interest demands that the President-elect be held accountable to the American people. As such, any charges against Mr. Nauta and Mr. De Oliveira that hinder the release of Special Counsel Smith’s report must be dismissed now."

The letter was signed by 25 members of the House Judiciary Committee, including Ranking Member Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Democratic representatives from New York, California, Georgia, Tennessee, Washington, Pennsylvania, Colorado, North Carolina, Vermont, Illinois, and Missouri.

"The letter states that while we do not condone the behavior of Mr. Nauta and Mr. De Oliveira, it is clear that Donald Trump was the mastermind behind the deception operation to conceal and abuse classified material. Trump was charged with 32 counts of willfully retaining these documents, while his co-defendants were charged with lesser offenses related to obstructing the investigation. However, due to DOJ policy, Trump has avoided any criminal accountability for his own wrongdoing. Trump's 2024 victory has saved him from a public trial and denied the American people the opportunity to learn the details of his unpatriotic, reckless, and intentional abuse of national security information."

On Thursday, Aileen Cannon will hear arguments regarding Volume 2 of the investigation in Fort Pierce, Florida, which was released by Garland earlier this week and focuses on the election interference case.

Earlier this month, attorneys for Nauta and De Oliveira requested that Cannon keep the special counsel report confidential.

The three individuals, Trump, Nauta, and De Oliveira, all entered not guilty pleas to federal charges accusing them of conspiring to impede the FBI's investigation into the discovery of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

In 2022, Garland appointed Smith to investigate allegations that Trump and his allies attempted to overturn the 2020 election results and that Trump kept allegedly classified documents at his Florida residence.

A special counsel typically releases a final report upon completion of their investigation, detailing their findings and any decisions regarding prosecution or declination. The release of this report is at the discretion of Garland. In Smith's case, the prosecution decision is irrelevant due to Trump's status as president-elect and the longstanding Justice Department policy against charging a sitting president.

On Thursday afternoon, the Justice Department will hear Garland's farewell address.