A federal judge has prohibited former President Donald Trump from revealing classified documents and sensitive information related to his case concerning classified materials.
US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who authorized the search warrant for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in August of last year, supported the Justice Department’s position on Monday. Special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutors had filed a motion requesting that the evidence in the case be safeguarded during the discovery process.
The judge stated that Trump and his co-defendant Walt Nauta are not allowed to “divulge the Discovery Materials or their contents, directly or indirectly, to any individual or entity except individuals employed to assist in the defense, potential witnesses who are interviewed, counsel for potential witnesses, and other individuals authorized by the Court for disclosure.
“Defendants may only access Discovery Materials under the direct supervision of Defense Counsel or a member of Defense Counsel’s team. Defendants are not permitted to retain copies of Discovery Material,” Reinhart added.
The judge cautioned that violations of the protective order “may result in contempt of court or other civil or criminal penalties.”
Last week, Trump was formally charged with 37 counts relating to the alleged mishandling of classified materials at his Palm Beach estate, becoming the first former president to face federal charges.
Prosecutors assert that Trump repeatedly refused to hand over the materials to the National Archives, which included classified information regarding America’s defense and nuclear capabilities.
Smith filed the motion for a protective order on Friday, arguing that the evidence needed to remain confidential for the time being, and stating that the ongoing investigation into the documents could lead to additional arrests.
“The materials also contain information relevant to ongoing investigations, the disclosure of which could compromise those investigations and identify individuals who have not been charged,” the Justice Department stated.
This is not the first time such an order has been sought against the former president. A similar order was issued last month in a separate case concerning hush money payments in New York.
Prosecutors in that case expressed concern that Trump might share evidence from the case on social media, as he has frequently aired his grievances about his legal troubles on his Truth Social platform.
{Matzav.com}
Former President Donald Trump on Monday responded to US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart’s request that he refrain from revealing classified and sensitive information related to the classified materials found in his possession.
Mr. Trump replied to the Judge’s request in a statement saying: “Okay, Judge Reinhart, I’ll heed your request. From hereon I will watch in silence as the DOJ and FBI leak the subject and content of some of those classified documents. But I will keep my own mouth shut, and will not post anything about the classified docs, and I will allow the DOJ and FBI, and all the rest of Biden’s lackies, to leak the content of the classified docs to the lamestream media, so that I can be an honest, self destructive idiot who allows my enemies to completely destroy me.”
“So far,” the statement went on to say, “we’ve already read in the mainstream media about the information in the classified docs pertaining to Iran. I hope to see more info leaked by the DOJ and FBI in the coming weeks. Thank you, Judge Reinhart, for warning me about the criminal penalties I will face if I join the DOJ and FBI in leaking this kind of info.”
Are these judges from the Israeli high court of injustice perhaps?