A federal judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s case involving classified documents issued a decision favorable to the prosecution on Wednesday. Florida U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled in favor of special counsel Jack Smith concerning a motion submitted by Trump’s co-defendant, Walt Nauta, regarding document submissions for evidence.
Judge Cannon’s ruling agreed with Smith’s position that the documents in question would require “extensive redactions” before being made public, as reported by Newsweek. Trump faces 40 felony charges related to the handling of classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago during an FBI raid in August 2022. Special Counsel Smith is pushing for penalties against Trump and his associates for allegedly refusing to surrender White House documents requested by the U.S. National Archives. Trump has asserted that he declassified all documents he kept.
The ruling was somewhat unexpected, as Judge Cannon, a Trump appointee, has previously issued decisions that leaned in Trump’s favor. However, in this instance, Cannon’s “PAPERLESS ORDER granting in part the Special Counsel’s Third Motion for Redactions [423] in accordance with the Court’s prior Orders [474] [492]” allowed the prosecution to redact sensitive information from the documents.
Smith’s argument for redactions was based on the need to protect witness safety and privacy, especially given that some documents contain information from a sealed grand jury proceeding in the District of Columbia and others identify potential government witnesses. Smith emphasized the importance of these redactions, referencing the case of Chicago Tribune Co. v. Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. and a higher standard for compelling interest in redactions. Judge Cannon’s order supports the special counsel’s approach to safeguarding these details.
