Trump arrested: Trump strikes deal with Jack Smith on DOJ discovery info.
Former President Donald Trump Agrees to Order for Unclassified Discovery
Former President Donald Trump has agreed to an order offered up by special counsel Jack Smith, whereby the Justice Department will begin to hand over unclassified discovery while Trump will not retain or publicly disclose the information.
Trump was indicted last Thursday, and the charges against him were unsealed the following day. The former president pleaded not guilty in the classified documents case at a federal courthouse in Miami on Tuesday.
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The DOJ asked the court on Friday to sign off on a protective order to govern the handling of discovery information in the criminal case, telling the court that it had spoken with Trump and his co-defendant Walt Nauta, and that both had no objection to the terms of the proposal.
The court filing was authored by Smith and Jay Bratt, DOJ’s chief of counterintelligence, who was listed as “Counselor to the Special Counsel” in the filing.
Trump-nominated Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon, who was criticized by the Justice Department last year for implementing a short-lived special master process to oversee the classified documents investigation, has been assigned to oversee the criminal case against Trump. Cannon will oversee much of the pretrial legal battle, a potential jury trial, and, if Trump is convicted, she will decide his prison sentence.
Cannon sent the proposed discovery order to Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart on Friday for “appropriate disposition.”
Smith and Bratt wrote that “the government is ready to provide unclassified discovery to the defense” and the “discovery materials include sensitive and confidential information” such as “personal identifiable” information, information that reveals “sensitive but unclassified” investigative techniques, “non-public information” related to potential witnesses and including grand jury transcripts, and “financial information” on third parties.
Discovery materials “also include information pertaining to ongoing investigations, the disclosure of which could compromise those investigations and identify uncharged individuals.”
Smith and Bratt said the proposed protective order “will protect against unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, while allowing the defense to use the materials in preparation of their defense.”
Trump pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 31 counts for the willful retention of national defense information, one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice, one count of withholding a document or record, one count of corruptly concealing a document or record, one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation, one count for a scheme to conceal, and one count related to alleged false statements.
Nauta faces six criminal counts: conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding of a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and a false statements charge. He did not enter a plea on Tuesday, receiving a two-week extension as he seeks a local attorney in Florida.
The proposed protective order agreed to by the prosecutors, Trump, and Nauta on Friday says that “defendants and defense counsel shall not disclose the discovery materials or their contents” to anyone except for those assisting in their defense, potential witnesses, lawyers for potential witnesses, and other court-authorized people.
“Defendants shall only have access to discovery materials under the direct supervision of defense counsel or a member of defense counsel’s staff,” the proposed order says. “Defendants shall not retain copies of discovery material. Defendants may take notes regarding discovery materials, but such notes shall be stored securely by defense counsel or a member of defense counsel’s staff in the same manner as the discovery materials.”
The proposed order also says that “the discovery materials, along with any information derived therefrom, shall not be disclosed to the public or the news media, or disseminated on any news or social media platform, without prior notice to and consent of the United States or approval of the court.”
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Smith’s indictment alleges Trump knowingly and willfully mishandled classified documents after he departed the White House and resisted efforts to return them to the National Archives. The government alleges he retained 31 documents related to sensitive defense secrets, from nuclear programs to attack plans, shared them with people without clearances on at least two occasions, and was personally involved in the decision to withhold them.
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has maintained his innocence, and his legal team said he won’t take a plea deal.
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