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Trump says Meta has ‘come a long way’ after Zuckerberg ends fact-checking on platforms

EXCLUSIVE: President-elect Donald Trump reacted to Meta’s move to end its fact-checking program on Facebook, Instagram and its other platforms, telling Fox News Digital that the company has “come a long way.”  Fox News first reported that Meta is ending its fact-checking program and lifting restrictions on speech to “restore free expression” across its platforms, admitting its current content moderation practices have “gone too far.”  META ENDS FACT-CHECKING PROGRAM AS ZUCKERBERG VOWS TO RESTORE FREE EXPRESSION ON FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Trump said he thinks Meta’s “presentation was excellent.”  “They have come a long way,” Trump said. Trump’s comments come after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement in a video Tuesday morning, saying his company is “going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms.”  Meta plans to replace fact-checking with a “Community Notes” model similar to the one used on X. Meta’s third-party fact-checking program was put in place after the 2016 election and had been used to “manage content” and misinformation on its platforms, largely due to “political pressure,” executives said, but admitted the system had “gone too far.”  UFC HEAD DANA WHITE, STRONG TRUMP SUPPORTER, JOINS META’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS Meta Chief Global Policy Director Joel Kaplan told Fox News Digital that Meta is also changing some of its own content moderation rules, especially those that they feel are “too restrictive and not allowing enough discourse around sensitive topics like immigration, trans issues and gender.” “We want to make sure that discourse can happen freely on the platform without fear of censorship,” Kaplan told Fox News Digital. “We have the power to change the rules and make them more supportive of free expression. And we’re not just changing the rules, we are actually changing how we enforce the rules.” Kaplan said Meta currently uses automated systems, which he said make “too many mistakes” and removes content “that doesn’t even violate our standards.” He also said there are certain things Meta will continue to moderate, like posts relating to terrorism, illegal drugs and child sexual exploitation. However, as for the timing of the changes, Kaplan told Fox News Digital the company has “a real opportunity now.” ZUCKERBERG, EXPRESSING REGRETS, ADMITS BOWING TO BIDEN ADMINISTRATION PRESSURE TO REMOVE CONTENT “We have a new administration coming in that is far from pressuring companies to censor and [is more] a huge supporter of free expression,” Kaplan said, referring to the incoming Trump administration. “It gets us back to the values that Mark founded the company on.” Last year, Zuckerberg sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, in which he admitted that he felt pressure from the Biden administration, particularly with regard to COVID-19 content, and even subjects like satire and humor.  “The thing is, as American companies, when other governments around the world that don’t have our tradition or our First Amendment, when they see the United States government pressuring U.S. companies to take down content, it is just open season then for those governments to put more pressure [on their companies],” Kaplan explained. “We do think it is a real opportunity to work with the Trump administration and to work on free expression at home.” MUSK PROVES HUNTER BIDEN CENSORSHIP CAME FROM COLLUSION AMONG BIDEN CAMPAIGN, LAW ENFORCEMENT AND TWITTER Kaplan also said Meta sees “opportunities for partnership” with the Trump administration, not only on issues of free expression but also in “promoting American business and America’s technological edge.”  “Those are issues of great importance to Meta and our sector,” Kaplan said. “And we’re excited to work with the Trump administration to advance those goals.” Meanwhile, Meta also said it plans to take a more personalized approach to political content, so that users who want to see more posts of that kind can do so. Meta said it will refocus its enforcement efforts to “illegal and high-severity violations.” Meanwhile, this week, Trump ally UFC CEO Dana White joined Meta’s board.  “I love social media,” White wrote. “And I’m excited to be a small part of the future of AI and emerging technologies.” Also joining the Meta board is former Microsoft Corp. executive Charlie Songhurst, who has been working with the company already on artificial intelligence products, and Exov NV CEO John Elkann. Elkann’s company has stakes in many European businesses, including Ferrari NV and Italy’s popular soccer team, Juventus Football Club. 

Delhi govt issues Modal Code of Conduct guidelines after polls date announced; check here

The general administration department (GAD) in its order directed various departments to immediately remove photographs and references of the council of ministers, political parties and their leaders from official websites.

Conservatives rejoice over ‘jaw dropping’ Meta censorship announcement: ‘Huge win for free speech’

Conservatives on social media took a victory lap on Tuesday in response to the news that Meta had ended its controversial fact-checking practices and promised to move toward a system more focused on free speech. “Meta finally admits to censoring speech…what a great birthday present to wake up to and a huge win for free speech,” GOP Sen. Rand Paul posted on X on Tuesday in response to news, first reported by Fox News Digital, that Meta is ending its fact-checking program and lifting restrictions on speech to “restore free expression” across Facebook, Instagram and Meta platforms, admitting its current content moderation practices have “gone too far.” “Jaw dropping—he explicitly says Meta will ‘adopt a system like X has of community notes’ because of the bias/abuse of 3rd party fact checkers,” Independent Women’s Forum visiting fellow Lyndsey Fifield posted on X in response to Meta’s chief global affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, speaking to Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” Tuesday morning for an exclusive interview to discuss the changes.  FACEBOOK ADMITS ‘MISTAKE’ IN CENSORING ICONIC TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT PHOTO: ‘THIS WAS AN ERROR’ “Nature is healing,” Fifield said.  “There is absolutely 0 chance this would have happened if Trump didn’t win,” Abigail Jackson, communications director for GOP Sen. Josh Hawley, posted on X.  “Here is the full video from Mark Zuckerberg announcing the end of censorship and misinformation policies,” Breaking Points co-host Sagaar Enjeti posted on X. “I highly recommend you watch all of it as tonally it is one of the biggest indications of ‘elections have consequences’ I have ever seen.” “Zuck is committed to cleaning house,” journalist Jordan Schachtel posted on X. “Question the motives or not, this is a very real commitment and it’s good news for speech on the internet. Of course, probably not possible to pull off without Trump winning.” Meta’s third-party fact-checking program was put in place after the 2016 election and had been used to “manage content” and misinformation on its platforms, largely due to “political pressure,” executives said, but admitted the system has “gone too far.”  Since then, the process has drawn the ire of conservatives who have accused the platform of politically driven censoring while pointing to several examples of content being silenced, including the bombshell New York Post reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop, which Zuckerberg admitted the Biden White House pressured him to do and later called the move a mistake.  FACEBOOK HAS ‘INTERFERED’ WITH US ELECTIONS 39 TIMES SINCE 2008: STUDY Kaplan said Meta currently uses automated systems, which he said make “too many mistakes” and removes content “that doesn’t even violate our standards.” He also said there are certain things Meta will continue to moderate, like posts relating to terrorism, illegal drugs and child sexual exploitation. Zuckerberg also pointed out in his video message on Tuesday that moderation teams will be moving from California to Texas, where he suggested there will be “less concern about the bias of our teams.” “We’re going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms,” Zuckerberg said. “More specifically, we’re going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with Community Notes similar to X, starting in the U.S.”  Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Why Delhi Assembly elections scheduled on Wednesday; Know what CEC Rajiv Kumar said

While announcing the delhi election schedule live, the CEC emphasised that 2025 delhi election date will be on a Wednesday, like it happened for Maharashtra polls.

Biden admin working to effectively ban cigarettes in 11th hour proposal a ‘gift’ to cartels, expert says

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is moving forward with a regulatory rule in the final days of the Biden administration that would effectively ban cigarettes currently on the market in favor of products with lower nicotine levels, which could end up boosting business for cartels operating on the black market, an expert tells Fox News Digital. “Biden’s ban is a gift with a bow and balloons to organized crime cartels with it, whether it’s cartels, Chinese organized crime, or Russian mafia. It’s going to keep America smoking, and it’s going to make the streets more violent,” Rich Marianos, former assistant director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the current chair of the Tobacco Law Enforcement Network, told Fox News Digital of the proposal.  The FDA confirmed to Fox Digital on Monday that as of Jan. 3, the Tobacco Product Standard for Nicotine Level of Certain Tobacco Products had completed a regulatory review, but that the proposed rule has not yet been finalized.  “The proposed rule, ‘Tobacco Product Standard for Nicotine Level of Certain Tobacco Products,’ is displaying in the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) ROCIS system as having completed regulatory review on January 3,” an FDA spokesman told Fox Digital. “As the FDA has previously said, a proposed product standard to establish a maximum nicotine level to reduce the addictiveness of cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products, when finalized, is estimated to be among the most impactful population-level actions in the history of U.S. tobacco product regulation. At this time, the FDA cannot provide any further comment until it is published.” Fox New Digital reached out to the White House regarding concerns over the proposal if it were to take effect but did not receive a response.  BIDEN ADMIN FACING CONGRESSIONAL PROBE OVER PROPOSED BAN ON MENTHOL CIGARETTES Former President Barack Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act in 2009, which granted the FDA the power to regulate tobacco products. In the years since, the agency has worked to lower nicotine levels, including in July 2017 under the Trump administration, when then-FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced it would seek to require tobacco companies to drastically cut nicotine in cigarettes in an effort to help adult smokers quit. In 2022, the FDA under the Biden administration announced plans for the proposed rule that would lower levels of nicotine so they were less addictive or non-addictive. “Lowering nicotine levels to minimally addictive or non-addictive levels would decrease the likelihood that future generations of young people become addicted to cigarettes and help more currently addicted smokers to quit,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said at the time.  POPULAR ITALIAN CITY OFFICIALLY BANS CIGARETTE SMOKING OUTDOORS Lowering the levels of nicotine in commonly purchased cigarettes and other tobacco products would open the floodgates to the illicit trafficking of tobacco products into the U.S., Marianos told Fox News Digital.  “This decision is being thrown down the public’s throat without one ounce of thought and preparation. Nobody sat down with law enforcement, nobody sat down with any doctors, No one sat down with any regulators to find out, ‘Hey, look, what are the unintended ramifications of such a poor choice,’ and that’s what I’m going to call it, a poor choice,” Marianos said.  He explained that Mexican cartels are well-positioned to bring illegal tobacco across the border, as they do with substances such as fentanyl that have devastated communities across the U.S., while Chinese criminal organizations have some of the best counterfeit operations stretching from baby formula to cigarettes, and Russian organized crime groups have their foot in the door in cities across the nation, including in bodegas and other stores that sell tobacco products.  Marianos said that criminal groups would likely quickly catch on to the proposal if it takes effect and subsequently amplify their tobacco operations – which he says will serve as an economic boon for the criminals.  Americans who want to purchase cigarettes with higher levels of nicotine would then need to go through the illicit channels to obtain them, similar to buying “loosie” cigarettes on the streets of New York, putting average Americans at further criminal risk while also offering them cigarettes that are not regulated and originating from foreign nations.  WANT TO STOP SMOKING FOR GOOD? CDC LAUNCHES NEW CAMPAIGN WITH FREE RESOURCES TO QUIT Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers have already warned that tobacco trafficking in the U.S. poses a grave national security threat and already has its foot in the door.  “In 2015, the State Department cited activity by terrorist groups, and criminal networks who have used tobacco trafficking operations to finance other crimes, including ‘money laundering, bulk cash smuggling, and the trafficking in humans, weapons, drugs, antiquities, diamonds, and counterfeit goods,’” Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La.; Mark Warner, D-Va.; Marco Rubio, R-Fla.;  Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.; and then-Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., wrote in a 2023 letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.  BIDEN ADMIN ABRUPTLY DELAYS PLAN TO BAN MENTHOL CIGARETTES AMID WIDESPREAD OPPOSITION “Recently, public reporting has also noted these financial linkages between Mexican transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) involved in narcotics and fentanyl trafficking, and these tobacco smuggling activities. Mexican TCOs pose a grave threat to American national security and public health.” Marianos added that in addition to the criminal effect posed to America and its residents, lowering nicotine levels would also defeat the stated mission of weaning smokers off cigarettes and instead lead to an increase in smoking.  “You’re going to create more smoking. And I thought that’s what we’re trying to get away from, right? Smoking is bad. I thought we’re trying to do everything possible to get away from that and get the country safer. Well, if you take down the nicotine levels, people are going to smoke more. That is proven. All you have to do is just drive here in DC and see, you know workers on their smoke break,” he said, saying work productivity will even be driven down as people take more smoke

Laken Riley Act: House poised to pass 1st bill of 119th Congress

The House of Representatives is poised to vote on its first piece of federal legislation on Tuesday afternoon. Lawmakers will be voting on the Laken Riley Act, a bill named after a nursing student who was killed by an illegal immigrant while jogging on the University of Georgia’s campus. The bill would require federal immigration authorities to detain illegal immigrants found guilty of theft-related crimes. It also would allow states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm caused to their citizens because of illegal immigration. KAMALA HARRIS MAKES TRUMP’S 2024 PRESIDENTIAL WIN OFFICIAL DURING JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS Jose Ibarra, who was sentenced to life in prison for Riley’s murder, had previously been arrested but was never detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, the agency previously said. The bill passed the House along bipartisan lines last year after it was first introduced by Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga. All voting Republicans plus 37 Democrats voted for the bill by a margin of 251 to 170. All the “no” votes on the bill were Democrats. PRO-ISRAEL DEM COULD TIP SCALES IN KEY SENATE COMMITTEE AS MIDDLE EAST WAR CONTINUES It was not taken up in the Senate, however, which at the time was controlled by then-Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “[T]he Laken Riley Act, sponsored by Rep. Mike Collins, holds the Biden Administration accountable for their role in these tragedies through their open border policies, requires detention of illegal aliens who commit theft and mandates ICE take them into custody, and allows a state to sue the Federal government on behalf of their citizens for not enforcing the border laws, particularly in the case of parole,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said in his daily House floor lookout. HOUSE REPUBLICANS REJOICE OVER QUICK SPEAKER VOTE WITH ONLY ONE DEFECTOR “House Republicans won’t stop fighting to secure the border and protect American communities. When will Democrats finally decide enough is enough?” The Senate is also poised to vote on the bill this week. It is one of several border security bills House Republicans have reintroduced this year as they prepare to take over all the levers of power in Washington, D.C.  Republicans held the House and took over the Senate in the November elections. President-elect Donald Trump will take office on Jan. 20.

Transgender bill barring men from women’s sports to get floor vote in newly GOP-led Senate

FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is reintroducing a measure to prevent biological male participation in women’s and girls’ sports in the newly Republican-led Senate, and with the approval of leadership, it’s expected to get a floor vote.  The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act has been a yearslong crusade for the Alabama Republican, who originally introduced it in 2023. The measure would maintain that Title IX treats gender as “recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth” and does not adjust it to apply to gender identity.  KAMALA HARRIS MAKES TRUMP’S 2024 PRESIDENTIAL WIN OFFICIAL DURING JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS Tuberville’s legislation would ban federal funding from going toward athletic programs that allow biological men to participate in women’s and girls’ sports.   This would apply to biological men and boys who identify as transgender and seek to participate in events and leagues for women and girls.  “President Trump ran on the issue of saving women’s sports and won in a landslide,” the senator said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “70% of Americans agree—men don’t belong in women’s sports or locker rooms. I have said many times that I think Title IX is one of the best things to come out of Washington. But in the last few years, it has been destroyed.” “While I’m glad that the Biden administration ultimately rescinded the proposed rule, Congress has to ensure this never happens again. I am welcoming my first granddaughter this spring and won’t stop fighting until her rights to fairly compete are protected. I hope every one of my colleagues will join me in standing up for our daughters, nieces, and granddaughters by voting for this critical bill.” NEW SENATOR BERNIE MORENO WANTS BORDER BILL ON TRUMP’S DESK ON DAY 1, PUTTING DEMS ON RECORD The measure is co-sponsored by 23 Republican senators, including Sens. James Risch and Mike Crapo of Idaho, Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Thom Tillis and Ted Budd of North Carolina, Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Cindy Hyde-Smith and Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Tom Cotton, R-Ark., James Lankford, R-Okla., Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy of Montana, Roger Marshall, R-Kan., Mike Lee, R-Utah, John Kennedy, R-La., John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Pete Ricketts, R-Neb.  According to Tuberville’s office, he is working closely with President-elect Donald Trump to ensure there is fair competition under his administration.  With the new Senate under the authority of Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., Tuberville’s bill has gotten the proper blessing to move forward. A vote on the measure could come as soon as the end of the week.  PRO-ISRAEL DEM COULD TIP SCALES IN KEY SENATE COMMITTEE AS MIDDLE EAST WAR CONTINUES Democrats will be forced to put themselves on record about the transgender issue, which managed to rear its head during the 2024 presidential election and get pushback from Americans at the ballot box. One of the most memorable ads from the Trump campaign claimed, “Kamala is for they-them; President Trump is for you.”  Last month, the Biden administration withdrew a proposed Title IX rule change in a lame-duck move after a long fight to adjust the policy.  HOUSE REPUBLICANS REJOICE OVER QUICK SPEAKER VOTE WITH ONLY ONE DEFECTOR During his term, the administration sought to expand the definition of sex discrimination to include both sexual orientation and gender identity in order to protect LGBTQ students.  The proposal received inordinate levels of resistance and delayed plans to implement the new rule.  Additionally, Biden’s effort was tied up in legal challenges. His rule change was struck down in several states by a U.S. district judge over the summer. 

US in negotiations with Taliban to swap Americans in Afghanistan for prisoner in Guantanamo

The Biden administration reportedly has been negotiating with the Taliban to swap three Americans being held in Afghanistan for a Guantanamo Bay prisoner who is alleged to have been a close associate of Osama bin Laden.  The talks, which have been ongoing since at least July of last year, involve exchanging suspected senior Al Qaeda aide Muhammad Rahim al Afghani for American citizens George Glezmann, Ryan Corbett and Mahmoud Habibi, who were detained in Afghanistan in 2022, according to The Wall Street Journal.  After the White House proposed that swap in November, the Taliban counteroffered, asking for Rahim and two others in exchange for Glezmann and Corbett, the newspaper reported.   House Foreign Affairs Committee members told the newspaper that they later were informed by national security adviser Jake Sullivan during a Dec. 17, 2024, classified session that Biden was still mulling the offer. One attendee added that during the meeting, panel chair Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, expressed concern that the Taliban’s counteroffer wasn’t a good deal for the U.S.  “The safety and security of Americans overseas is one of the Biden-Harris Administration’s top priorities, and we are working around the clock to ensure George, Ryan and Mahmoud’s safe return,” Sean Savett, a National Security Council spokesman, recently told The Wall Street Journal.  This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Ex-Chicagoland police chief wants cop murder to be federal crime: ‘Attacks on police officers’ up since 2020

An ex-Chicagoland police chief says violent ambushes and murder of on-duty police officers need to be punishable as a federal crime, and he’s calling on President-elect Donald Trump to move the effort forward.  “Attacks on police officers are certainly on the rise since 2020, and what’s really on the rise is ambush,” retired Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel told Fox News Digital in an interview. “There’s been more ambush attacks on police officers in the last two to three years than I’ve ever seen before, and that goes from everything from just an officer sitting in a squad car, either writing a report or he or she is on an assignment, and somebody walking up and just shooting the officer right in the squad car.” “That’s happened several times over the last couple of years, or fake 911 calls where – the whole purpose of the calls [is] to get the officer to respond and to open fire on that officer and kill that officer. That’s happened many times. We had never seen that, you know, 10 years ago,” he added. CHICAGO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS ID SUSPECT, ANNOUNCE CHARGES IN MURDER OF POLICE OFFICER Currently, killing state or local law enforcement officers can lead to a federal penalty only if the killing is committed to influence or retaliate against the officer’s official duties and involves interstate commerce or federal jurisdiction. While some laws have been passed in recent years to curb the uptick in police killings, there’s no official federal law that killing a police officer in any state is a felony because most cases are prosecuted under state law. States generally treat the murder of a police officer as an aggravated form of homicide that can carry harsh penalties, including life imprisonment or the death penalty. “What I’m looking for is uniformity, and I’m looking forward to give the family and loved ones some relief that things are being done properly, and I know for a fact that they’re not prosecuted and investigated the same in every state in America. That’s not happening,” Weitzel said. Weitzel, who was almost killed in an ambush shooting during his time as a cop, said he’s sent letters to his state legislators, including Sen. Tammy Duckworth, and both the Biden and previous Trump administrations, but he only heard back from Trump’s DOJ with a list of best practices. Last week, Weitzel sent another letter to Trump urging him to look at the proposal. CHICAGO REMOVES LARGEST HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT, RELOCATES TENT RESIDENTS INTO APARTMENTS AND SHELTERS: REPORT “There’s still an unsolved police murder in the west suburbs of Chicago, and that really that also made me think, like, we need to get an outside agency’s experts in doing it. I’m not criticizing local law enforcement, I’m saying we just want it done uniformly,” he said. FBI data shows a significant rise in officer fatalities nationwide between 2020 and 2023, with nearly 200 officers feloniously killed over three years. In Chicago, the police department saw several of its officers killed last year: Officer Andres Mauricio Vasquez Lasso on March 1 and Officer Arenah M. Preston on May 6. Officer Enrique Martinez, 26, was killed in November during a traffic stop in the city’s East Chatham neighborhood. TRUMP SUPPORTERS RIP CHICAGO MAYOR TO HIS FACE JUST DAYS BEFORE CITY COUNCIL REJECTS HIS TAX HIKE “President Trump has publicly stated he’s a law-and-order president. He has stated he supports law enforcement, many of the law enforcement ideals and legislation,” Weitzel said. “So, it’s the right time to at least push this, because we have somebody who in the White House says he’s willing to work and pass legislation and funding with local law enforcement.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump transition team for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication.

Former Trump co-defendants want judge to block Special Counsel Jack Smith report

Two of President-elect Trump’s former co-defendants in the classified documents case want a judge to block Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report from being released to the public.  Trump’s valet Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, the property manager of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, want U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to keep Smith’s report out of the public eye. Fox News is told the report is days from being released. It could be later this week or sometime next week. Smith will resign from his position before Trump takes office on January 20.  “These Defendants will irreparably suffer harm as civilian casualties of the Government’s impermissible and contumacious utilization of political lawfare to include release of the unauthorized Report,” Nauta and De Oliveira’s attorneys wrote in an emergency motion filed on Monday. “The Final Report relies on materials to which Smith, as disqualified special counsel, is no longer entitled access— making his attempt to share such materials with the public highly improper.”  SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH PLANS TO RESIGN, FILE REPORT BEFORE TRUMP CAN FIRE HIM: REPORT The emergency motion asked the Court for an immediate hearing to “establish the impropriety of unchecked release; the scope of the resulting prejudice; and the specific materials contained in the Report for which release is impermissible.”  “The Final Report promises to be a one-sided, slanted report, relying nearly exclusively on evidence presented to a grand jury and subject to all requisite protections—and which is known to Smith only as a result of his unconstitutional appointment—in order to serve a singular purpose: convincing the public that everyone Smith charged is guilty of the crimes charged,” Nauta and De Oliveira’s attorneys wrote.  “But Nauta’s and De Oliveira’s criminal cases are not over; the appeal of this Court’s dismissal order by Smith is still pending,” the motion says. “The Government notably continued briefing the appeal even following the dismissal of the appeal as to President Trump. There remains the threat of future criminal proceedings as to Nauta and De Oliveira, and those proceedings will be irreversibly and irredeemably prejudiced by dissemination of the Final Report.”  It is customary for a special counsel to release a final report when his or her work is done, detailing the findings of their investigation and explaining any prosecution or declination decisions they reached as a result of the probe. In Smith’s case, the prosecution decision is immaterial, given Trump’s status as president-elect and longstanding Justice Department policy against bringing criminal charges against a sitting president.  The report would first go to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s office for review, according to standard practice. Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche, who is poised to be in a senior role at the Department of Justice, is asking Garland not to release the report.  “Smith’s proposed plan for releasing a report is unlawful, undertaken in bad faith, and contrary to the public interest,” Blanche wrote in an exhibit attached to the same motion. “Smith’s conduct also raises grave concerns under Article II because it unlawfully encroaches on the Executive authority of the incoming Administration of President Trump to resolve the issues surrounding Smith’s Office in accordance with President Trump’s commanding national mandate from the voters.”  SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH REQUIRED TO SUBMIT TRUMP FINDINGS TO DOJ BEFORE LEAVING. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? “The time has come to put an end to this weaponization of the justice system and move forward constructively,” he argued further. “No report should be prepared or released, and Smith should be removed, including for even suggesting that course of action given his obvious political motivations and desire to lawlessly undermine the transition.”  Trump, Nauta and De Oliveira all pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging they conspired to obstruct the FBI investigation into classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.  Smith was tapped by Garland in 2022 to investigate both the alleged effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as Trump’s keeping of allegedly classified documents at his Florida residence.  But he still must outline the investigation and its findings in his report to Garland, who will then decide whether to share it publicly.  Notably, Garland has opted to release the reports from two other special counsels whose investigations concluded during his tenure — publishing both the summary reports submitted by John Durham, who was tapped by then-Attorney General Bill Barr in 2019 to review law enforcement and intelligence gathering during the 2016 presidential campaign and the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, as well as the final report from Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney whom he tapped in 2023 to investigate President Biden’s handling of classified documents. These reports were made public at the same time as they were shared with members of Congress. It is unclear whether Garland will move to do the same with Smith’s findings, given their sensitivity and Trump’s status as president-elect. Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.