Former President Donald Trump recently arrived at a federal courthouse in Florida on Feb. 12 for a closed hearing in the case that involved classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
The hearing is taking place in Fort Pierce in a secure sensitive compartmented information facility, which is used for the review of classified materials.
It is noted that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon will separately hear arguments from President Trump’s attorneys and the Justice Department’s special counsel Jack Smith—outside of each other’s presence—regarding the procedures for handling classified evidence in the case.
“Defense counsel shall be prepared to discuss their defense theories of the case, in detail, and how any classified information might be relevant or helpful to the defense,” the judge wrote in scheduling the hearing.
The 45th president’s defense team is set to make their arguments in the morning, to be followed by Mr. Smith’s in the afternoon. The hearing follows Judge Cannon’s order unsealing the identities of and some other information concerning certain government witnesses in court filings on Feb. 6.
“The parties are reminded of the strong presumption of public access in criminal proceedings,” she wrote, ordering that no unclassified material in the case be filed under seal without obtaining her permission moving forward.
The judge added that motions seeking leave to file under seal “shall be filed publicly except in clear and supported cases of risk to personal safety or national security.”
The legal team representing President Trump submitted several applications to compel discovery this month, some of which included exhibits that were sealed. Emails including government officials’ personal information that were obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests were among the exhibits.
The legal team for President Trump argued that the documents demonstrated cooperation between the prosecution and the Biden administration in their effort to harm the previous president.
