Sponsors (2)
The bill forces rapid public disclosure of a Special Counsel report to increase transparency while granting the Attorney General broad redaction and withholding powers to protect privacy and national security — a trade-off that raises risks of premature sensitive disclosures, politicized withholding, privacy harms, and complications for ongoing prosecutions.
Taxpayers and the general public gain near-immediate access to Special Counsel Jack Smith's Volume II (within 7 days), increasing DOJ transparency about investigative findings.
The Attorney General may redact national-security information (and can release redacted material when in the public interest), which helps prevent disclosure of information that could harm national security while allowing case-by-case transparency.
The Attorney General may withhold witness and victim identifiers to protect the privacy and safety of individuals named who are not alleged to have aided criminal conduct.
Mandating public release within 7 days could pressure the DOJ to disclose sensitive national-security or classified content before thorough review, risking inadvertent harmful disclosures.
Broad redaction authority and AG discretion over what is released could reduce independent oversight and create opportunities for politicized withholding of material.
Publication of investigative materials risks exposing private individuals (witnesses or victims) if redactions are incomplete or successfully contested, creating privacy and safety harms.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires the Attorney General to publish volume II of the Special Counsel’s report online within 7 days, allowing limited redactions for certain witnesses, victims, and national security information.
Introduced April 9, 2026 by Stephen Cohen · Last progress April 9, 2026
Requires the Attorney General to post online, within seven days of enactment, volume II of the Special Counsel’s report, allowing only limited redactions. The redactions may hide names and identifying information of witnesses who did not aid or abet the crimes described, names and identifying information of victims, and national security or other information that would harm national security; the Attorney General may later disclose redactions made for national security if disclosure is deemed in the public interest.