In the ongoing legal proceedings related to the Trump classified documents case, special counsel Jack Smith has requested U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to eliminate juror questions about their voting history in the 2020 election. The special prosecutor’s team, in a court filing, objected to questions presented by former President Donald Trump’s legal team, particularly those related to the potential jurors’ voter registration, party affiliation, and participation in the 2020 presidential election.
On page ten of the document, Smith’s team specifically aimed to remove questions such as “Are you registered to vote?”, “Are you registered with a particular party?”, and “Did you vote in the 2020 presidential election?” from the questionnaire intended for potential jurors. These questions, as per the document, were introduced by Trump’s lawyers.
While Trump’s proposal did not explicitly inquire about the candidate the juror voted for in the 2020 election, it focused on the political party affiliation. Another suggestion from Trump’s team involved having jurors check all applicable news outlets they read and rank them, a section that Smith’s team wanted redacted.
Conversely, Trump’s legal team objected to a proposal from Smith regarding juror awareness of the FBI’s search warrant execution at the Mar-a-Lago Club in August 2022. They also sought the removal of a question asking if jurors had seen, read, or heard about any statements made by Trump regarding the investigation.
Additionally, Trump’s attorneys aimed to include a line emphasizing that an indictment is not evidence but rather an accusation, and it should not be considered as evidence of guilt. Smith and his prosecutors objected to this proposal, along with an objection to a question probing if jurors held negative views about a particular politician.
Further objections were raised by prosecutors regarding jurors’ familiarity with two of Trump’s co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira, and a question about whether jurors own any “Trump properties.”
The trial, involving Trump facing 40 federal charges related to keeping classified materials after leaving the White House in 2021, is scheduled to begin on May 20. A hearing on Friday will address arguments about when the trial should commence, with Smith’s team advocating for a start date of July 8, while Trump seeks to delay it until August.
In response to a court brief from co-defendant Walt Nauta, Smith’s prosecutors requested limiting FBI transcripts against him to specific pages and portions relevant to the defense’s cited exhibit, incorporating proposed redactions. They also sought to block public access to grand jury testimony and other FBI interviews, listing over 20 court documents for sealing, redacting, or complete redaction.
The prosecutors also aimed to censor search warrants for Nauta’s phones and the names of FBI agents involved in the raid on Trump’s home in mid-2022. In February, Trump attended a closed-door hearing in Florida to discuss federal procedures for handling classified evidence in the trial.
Besides the classified materials case, Trump faces charges in Atlanta and Washington related to post-2020 election efforts and state court charges in New York regarding payments during the 2016 presidential campaign. In February, a New York judge ruled that Trump must pay a $355 million civil penalty, alleging fraud in over-inflating his net worth and property values. Trump appealed the case, and an appellate judge partially blocked certain aspects of the ruling while maintaining the fine and bond payment.
