‘The Court cannot simply take the prosecutors’ word for it’: Trump lawyers ask Mar-a-Lago judge to put an end to Jack Smith’s ‘secret filings’

Judge Aileen Cannon, Donald Trump

Judge Aileen Cannon (Senate Judiciary Committee via AP), Donald Trump visits Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in July 2023 (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

In the aftermath of the Mar-a-Lago trial judge’s ruling against special counsel Jack Smith, lawyers for former President Donald Trump have asked for “attorneys’-eyes-only access” to “all” government filings that seek to delete or substitute classified information from discovery.

Defense attorneys Todd Blanche and Christopher Kise, railing against Smith’s “secret filings,” argued that the “special circumstances” of the case — including Trump’s “prior clearances and access to sensitive information” — should weigh against future ex parte (judge’s eyes only) filings under Classified Information Procedure Act (CIPA) §4.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon unsealed documents after Jack Smith warned in ex parte filings that his “forthcoming CIPA Section 4 motion […] will include highly sensitive classified information” from “four separate categories” that ought to be protected from disclosure to the defense, including Trump’s co-defendants, valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira.

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