ATLANTA, September 30, 2025 — The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University today filed a petition asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit to compel a lower court to rule on a motion that the Institute filed more than six months ago, seeking the release of a Special Counsel report on President Trump’s alleged unlawful retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after he left office in 2021. “The court’s months-long delay in ruling on our motion for the release of the Special Counsel’s report has the same effect as denying the motion outright,” said Scott Wilkens, senior counsel at the Knight First Amendment Institute. The Institute also asked Judge Cannon to post the report on the court’s public docket, arguing that the First Amendment and common law give the public a right of access to the report because it was submitted to the court in connection with a criminal proceeding. About the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia UniversityThe Knight First Amendment Institute defends the freedoms of speech and the press in the digital age through strategic litigation, research, policy advocacy, and public education. It promotes a system of free expression that is open and inclusive, that broadens and elevates public discourse, and that fosters creativity, accountability, and effective self-government.