Photo:Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The order adds: “Defendants shall only have access to Discovery Materials under the direct supervision of Defense Counsel or a member of Defense Counsel’s staff. Defendants shall not retain copies of Discovery Material.”
The order comes as federal investigators are set to begin turning over evidence in the case to Trump’s attorneys as the case enters the discovery process. It applies to both the former president and his co-defendant,Walt Nauta, a longtime aide of Trump’s who has also been charged in the case.
Nauta, a U.S. Navy veteran who reportedly met Trump whileworking in the White House mess hall, later left the White House to work for the former president at Mar-a-Lago. He was reportedly caught on security footage moving boxes at the Palm Beach, Fla. property, just one day before the FBI executed a search warrant there last August.
Nauta’s charges, totaling six counts, include concealing a document in a federal investigation, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and making false statements and representations.
Trump, meanwhile, is accused of 37 criminal offenses: 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information (a violation of the Espionage Act); one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice; one count of withholding a document or record; one count of corruptly concealing a document or record; one count of concealing a document in a federal investigation; one count of scheme to conceal; and one count of false statements and representations.
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In an unsealed, 38-count indictment, prosecutors allege Trump retained over 100 classified documents with some of the most sensitive topics originating from seven intelligence agencies, including the CIA, NSA and Department of Defense.
According to the indictment, documents about some of the most sensitive topics were stored in “a ballroom, a bathroom and shower, an office space, [Trump’s] bedroom, and a storage room,” all at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump has previously not shied away from using social media to defend himself against the charges.
Earlier this month, he took to Truth Social to claim that boxes photographed in a storage room at Mar-a-Lago (and mentioned in the indictment) were merely full of “newspapers.”
“The Box on the floor which was opened (who opened it?) clearly shows there was no ‘documents,’ but rather newspapers, personal pictures, etc. WITCH HUNT!” Trump wrote.
The photo Trump is referring to does appear to show newspapers and printed photographs spread across the floor — among other papers.
A date for Trump’s next court appearance in the federal classified documents case has not yet been set, and as the Republican Party’s current frontrunner in the 2024 presidential election, it remains unclear if a trial and potential sentencing (if he’s convicted) could wrap before Americans take to the polls.
source: people.com
