The US special counsel investigating Trump resigned after submitting the report

US special counsel Jack Smith has resigned from the Justice Department after releasing his investigative report on president-elect Donald Trump, a move expected to come amid a legal battle over the value of that document that could be made public in the coming days.

The department revealed Smith's departure from the court after filing his plea on Saturday, saying he resigned the other day. The resignation, ten days before Trump's inauguration, follows the conclusion of two unsuccessful impeachments against Trump that were dismissed following Trump's victory in the White House in November.

At issue now is the conclusion of a two-volume report that Smith and his team prepared about their twin investigations into Trump's efforts to overturn the results of his 2020 election and his collection of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

The Justice Department was expected to make the document public in the final days of the Biden administration, but a Trump-appointed judge presiding over the classified documents case granted a defense request to temporarily halt its release. Two of Trump's defendants in that case, Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira, argued that release of the report would be unfairly prejudicial, an argument Trump's legal team joined.

The department responded that it will withhold the public release of the classified documents as long as the trial against Nauta and De Oliveira continues. Although US District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case last July, Smith's team is appealing that decision in relation to the two remaining defendants.

But prosecutors say they intend to continue the release of the election interference volume.

In an emergency ruling late Friday, they asked Atlanta's 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to immediately lift an order from Cannon that had barred them from releasing any part of the report. They told Cannon on Saturday that he had no authority to stop the release of the report, but he responded by ordering prosecutors to file another brief on Sunday.

An appeals court on Thursday night denied an emergency defense request to block the release of the election interference report, which covers Trump's efforts before the violence at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to overturn the results of the 2020 election. But he left in place Cannon's order that no findings can be released until three days after the case is resolved by the appeals court.

The Justice Department told the appeals court in its emergency motion that Cannon's order was “plainly erroneous.”

“The Attorney General is the head of the Department of Justice confirmed by the Senate and has the authority to supervise all officers and employees of the department,” the Department of Justice said. “Therefore, the attorney general has the authority to decide whether to release the investigative report prepared by his subordinates.”

Justice Department regulations call for special counsel to produce reports at the end of their work, and it is customary for such documents to be made public regardless.

William Barr, attorney general during Trump's first term, released a special counsel report examining Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible ties to the Trump campaign.

Biden's attorney general, Merrick Garland, also released special counsel reports, including Biden's handling of classified information before Biden became president.