Trump attends Florida hearing as arguments over classified documents intensify

Donald Trump appeared in Florida on Monday for a closed-door hearing to discuss classified discovery that the former president may want to use to defend himself in the case against him related to allegations he illegally retained national defense information after he left the White House.

Trump, according to a campaign spokesman, attended the hearing at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, where he was set to meet in person with Judge Aileen Cannon, who is overseeing the case, for the first time.

Cannon scheduled the hearing to hear from Trump and his attorneys about what classified discovery they had received from special counsel Jack Smith that they believe would be helpful to their defense.

The hearing with Trump was closed to prosecutors. Smith’s team was scheduled to have its own chance to meet with Cannon later on Monday once the hearing with Trump had concluded.

The hearing comes as fights over classified discovery have intensified in recent days, according to court filings.

Smith has been in the process of pleading with Cannon to allow the names of witnesses in filings to remain redacted, arguing the witnesses would face threats if their identities were revealed.

The disclosure of their identities, as well as disclosure of statements they have made to federal investigators, would “[expose] them to significant and immediate risks of threats, intimidation, and harassment,” prosecutors wrote in a filing last week.

The prosecutors said Cannon would effectively reveal the identities of more than two dozen witnesses, some of whom may never end up testifying at trial and could have otherwise kept their privacy, if she ordered their names unsealed.

“Others are expected to provide important trial testimony and will likely be subject to threats, intimidation, and harassment if their identities are revealed — a likelihood that is concrete and palpable in this case, as the record reveals and other judges have recognized,” prosecutors added.

Smith said he conferred with Trump’s defense team and that counsel for the former president opposed Smith’s request.

No witnesses have been named on the public docket thus far, but Cannon argued that the public has a constitutional right to records in criminal proceedings unless parties present a reason that would overcome that right.

Cannon said Smith had only spoken generically of threats to witnesses and therefore had not met that threshold.

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“Although substantiated witness safety and intimidation concerns can form a valid basis for overriding the strong presumption in favor of public access, the Special Counsel’s sparse and undifferentiated Response fails to provide the Court with the necessary factual basis to justify sealing,” Cannon wrote.

Trump has until Feb. 23 to make his case to Cannon that the identities of the witnesses should be unsealed, but the topic is also likely to arise during Monday’s classified hearings.

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