A Washington D.C.-based federal judge has ordered the Department of Justice to answer by March 4 a request by The New York Times to unseal judicial records in the 2020 election interference case brought by former special counsel Jack Smith, Scott MacFarlane of CBS News reported.

In January, The New York Times filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking to obtain a court order requiring the DOJ to produce sealed documents related to President Donald Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

The charges against Trump were dismissed by then Attorney General Merrick Garland indicating he would not release the sealed volume of the report.

"The contents of the second volume are not known but they may be significant: they may shed light on President Trump's motives for allegedly removing a trove of classified documents from the White House in 2021, and according to President Trump's lawyers they also implicate some 'anticipated' members of the President's incoming administration," the Times filing states.

The Times had sought an expedited request on the grounds that the "urgency to inform the public about an actual or alleged Federal Government activity" and that the issue is "one of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exists possible question about the government's integrity that affect public confidence."

In November, Smith's election subversion case against Trump was dropped as well as his mishandling of classified documents case against the president following the Supreme Court ruling in 2024 that granted Trump some presidential immunity from criminal prosecution.

Smith claimed that there was enough evidence to convict Trump "but for Mr. Trump's election and imminent return to the Presidency." Smith resigned on Jan. 12 rather than be fired as the president had promised.