Donald Trump's lawyers have asked the Justice Department not to release the special counsel's report outlining his investigations into the US president-elect.
Jack Smith led two investigations into Trump, one into alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and another into his apparent mishandling of classified documents.
Both cases have been shelved, but Mr Smith's detailed report was due to be released in the coming days.
But in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Trump's lawyers urged him to end “weaponizing the judicial system” and turn over the report to them.
The correspondence alleges that Mr. Smith did not have the legal authority to submit the report because he was unconstitutionally selected for the task and was politically motivated. Mr Smith has not yet responded publicly.
Trump's legal team received a draft copy of the report over the weekend.
Both investigations led to criminal charges against Trump, but they have since been dismissed, in part because of the Justice Department's longstanding policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.
The former president pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.
Federal regulations stipulate that any special investigation must end with a report to the Department of Justice, and Garland had previously said he would make all such reports public.
During his time away from the White House, Trump has faced a host of legal issues, which his lawyers and allies have successfully delayed and thwarted.
The administration of Democratic President Joe Biden has faced accusations from Trump's opponents that they filed cases against the Republican too slowly, while Trump's supporters said the prosecutions were politically motivated.
One of Smith's cases concerns Trump's attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 election, which he lost to Biden.
Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, and the case ended up in legal limbo after the Supreme Court ruled that Trump enjoyed partial immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts he committed while in office.
Smith later refiled his case, but ended it after Trump won the 2024 election.
He was also leading a case against Trump over his alleged mishandling of classified documents After he left the White House after his first presidency, accusations that Trump also denied.
That case hit its own snag when a Trump-appointed judge dismissed the charges, arguing that Smith had been inappropriately appointed to lead the case. Again, Smith responded – this time with an appeal – but later abandoned that as well.
Justice Department directives prohibit criminal prosecution of a sitting president. Mr. Smith explained that this legal protection also applies to the prosecution of a private citizen who is later elected president.
The Trump campaign celebrated the news, calling it a “major victory for the rule of law.”
Smith is also expected to leave office before Trump returns to the White House on January 20 and carries out his impeachment threat.
Despite his recent legal victories, Trump still faces sentencing on Friday after being convicted in New York last year of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up payments to a porn star.
Less than two weeks before Trump was re-inaugurated as President of the United States, the judge rejected the request for a postponement, although he had previously made clear that he would not consider granting Trump a period of detention.
