WASHINGTON — The Justice Department can publicly release special counsel Jack Smith’s investigative report on President-elect Donald Trump’s 2020 election interference case, a federal judge said Monday in the latest ruling in a court dispute over the highly anticipated document days before Trump is set to reclaim the White House.

But a temporary injunction barring the immediate release of the report remained in effect until today, and it’s unlikely U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s order will be the last word on the matter. Defense lawyers may seek to challenge it all the way up to the Supreme Court.

Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump, had earlier temporarily blocked the department from releasing the entire report on Smith’s investigations into Trump that led to two criminal cases. Cannon’s latest order on Monday cleared the way for the release of the volume detailing Smith’s case that accused Trump, a Republican, of conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, a Democrat.

– The Associated Press