Trump Docs Judge Backs Prosecutors on Limited Sharing

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U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon reportedly largely has sided with special counsel Jack Smith in a battle to shield certain information from former President Donald Trump’s lawyers as they prepare for trial in his documents case.

The Classified Information Procedures Act allows prosecutors to redact or summarize some elements of classified discovery material before it’s turned over to defendants.

Cannon mostly approved the Justice Department’s request to do so, but held off on making a decision on other documents at issue in the Mar-a-Lago case — allowing Smith to “redact, substitute, or delete” two categories of classified information and “most” of a third category from shareable discovery, Law&Crime reported.

“No classified information not already agreed to be released by the Special Counsel shall be disseminated as a result of this unclassified Order,” Cannon wrote, The Hill noted.

Cannon said it would take additional hearings to determine whether two sensitive intelligence reports related to one of the documents Trump is charged with taking and stashing at Mar-a-Lago should be withheld during discovery, as well as a few of the after-action reports, The Hill reported.

In December, Cannon and Smith clashed when the special counsel insisted that unsealing certain details would reveal the “contours and extent” of the government’s plans to delete classified information from discovery, Law&Crime reported.

But Friday’s ruling on Smith’s “redact, substitute, or delete” request was not a total win for the special counsel either, the outlet noted.

Cannon’s ruling comes amid broader scrutiny of her handling the case, after she issued a ruling earlier this week asking both parties to draft proposed jury instructions that would include a key Trump defense — that the documents in question could be considered his personal property under the Presidential Records Act, The Hill reported.

The argument was rejected by some legal experts who asserted the law is clear that classified documents cannot ever be construed as Trump’s personal property, the outlet reported.

Cannon also hasn’t yet ruled on motions from Trump aiming to toss the case altogether — and hasn’t set a new trial date after both parties suggested delaying the May trial.

Trump has proposed shifting the trial to after the election; Smith has suggested a July trial, The Hill reported.