Judge Aileen Cannon has ordered President Trump’s lawyers and special prosecutor Jack Smith’s team to prepare for the public release of materials related to the classified documents case.
This order was issued on May 9, making it the first major one since Judge Cannon postponed the trial indefinitely last week to deal with classified evidence issues.
The judge also asked Mr.
Smith’s team to submit a brief notice indicating any final changes or revisions to his proposed seal/redaction requests as to the above-mentioned filings.
The orders were issued in response to a February motion submitted by President Trump’s team that had alleged prosecutors unlawfully obtained evidence in the case along with other alleged prosecutorial misconduct.
The May 9 order stated that information relating to “grand jury materials” should be redacted, as well as names of potential witnesses or clearly identifying information.
Two days prior to this, Judge Cannon announced in a five-page order that it would be imprudent to finalize a new trial date now, which further casts doubt on federal prosecutors’ ability to bring President Trump to trial before the November presidential election.
In this case, the 45th president faces dozens of felony counts accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and then obstructing the FBI’s efforts to retrieve them after he left office in 2021.
He has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.
President Trump faces four criminal cases as he seeks to reclaim the White House; however, it is unclear if any of the other three will reach trial before the election.
The Supreme Court is evaluating President Trump’s arguments that he is immune from federal prosecution in a separate case brought by Mr.
Smith, accusing him of plotting to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Furthermore, prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, have also charged the former president with election subversion; however, it is not yet known when that trial may begin.
Currently, President Trump is on trial in New York for allegedly falsifying business records connected to payments he made that prosecutors claim were attempts to prevent several women from going public about allegations during the 2016 election.
He has pleaded not guilty to these charges.
Last week, Judge Juan Merchan warned President Trump that future violations of his gag order could be punishable by incarceration, stating that he did not want to put him in jail but had a job to do.
The original gag order issued by Judge Merchan prohibits President Trump from making comments about jurors, court staff, prosecutors, and likely witnesses.
The violation of the gag order came as witness Stephanie Clifford (also known as Stormy Daniels) testified in the trial and claimed that she had an affair with President Trump in 2006, which he has denied.
His attorneys asked the judge to declare a mistrial over her remarks twice but were denied by Judge Merchan.
In a social media post referring to Ms.
Clifford’s claims, the former president wrote that he cannot publicly respond to “lies and false statements” made about him.
Another major witness in the case, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, is expected to testify in the coming week.
The New York trial is anticipated to last for approximately two more weeks.