In a significant development in the case concerning former President Donald Trump’s classified documents, Federal Judge Aileen Cannon has taken action to prepare for the potential public release of materials. Following her recent decision to indefinitely postpone the trial date due to classified evidence concerns, Judge Cannon has now ordered both President Trump’s legal team and special prosecutor Jack Smith’s team to make preparations for the public disclosure of documents.
The order, issued on May 9, mandates President Trump to comply with a May 16 deadline to submit his current stance on the sealing of undocketed motions, along with associated responses, replies, and accompanying exhibits, under seal. This submission is required to include proposed redactions to the filings.
In fact, Judge Cannon has instructed Mr. Smith’s team to provide a notice indicating any final changes or revisions to proposed seal/redaction requests for the mentioned filings.
The orders specifically address a February motion filed by President Trump’s team, alleging unlawful evidence acquisition and prosecutorial misconduct. Judge Cannon’s order emphasizes the need for redaction of certain information, including potential witness names, identifying details, and ancillary names related to grand jury materials.
To add to all that, in a previous five-page order issued two days prior, Judge Cannon expressed caution in finalizing a new trial date, casting doubt on federal prosecutors’ ability to bring President Trump to trial before the November presidential election. The case against the former president involves numerous felony charges, accusing him of unlawfully retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate and obstructing FBI efforts to recover them post his departure from the White House in 2021. President Trump has pleaded not guilty and refuted any wrongdoing.
