Jack Smith requests Florida judge to safeguard witnesses

Special counsel Jack Smith has requested Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by Trump and is overseeing his case involving classified documents, to rectify a mistake that he claims will expose witnesses to threats and intimidation from “Trump world.”

In a 22-page court filing on Thursday, Smith pointed out instances where he believes Cannon made the wrong decision by releasing unredacted discovery documents at the request of Trump and media outlets.

Smith wrote in the motion, “That discovery material, if publicly docketed in unredacted form as the Court has ordered, would disclose the identities of numerous potential witnesses, along with the substance of the statements they made to the FBI or the grand jury, exposing them to significant and immediate risks of threats, intimidation, and harassment, as has already happened to witnesses, law enforcement agents, judicial officers, and Department of Justice employees whose identities have been disclosed in cases in which defendant Trump is involved.”

Threats have reportedly been made to court officials in Trump’s election interference cases in both Washington, D.C., and Georgia, as well as his civil fraud trial in New York.

In addition to arguing that Cannon’s order was wrongly decided, Smith also stated that she wrongly said the government must show a compelling interest for keeping the documents private.

He argued that this standard does not apply to discovery documents.

He wrote, “The Eleventh Circuit has held that the compelling-interest standard applied by the Court does not apply to ‘documents filed in connection with motions to compel discovery,’ which instead may be sealed or redacted simply upon a showing of ‘good cause,’ ” pointing to the 2020 case of United States v. Nickens.

He also cited the 2021 case of United States v. Grobman, stating that “reconsideration is warranted to ‘correct clear error’ ” because the Court applied the wrong legal standard.

According to Newsweek, the documents in question include the names of potential witnesses, uncharged conduct of specific individuals, and the FBI codename for a separate investigation.

The Justice Department’s case against Trump concerns his alleged mishandling of classified materials after leaving Washington at the end of his presidency. He is currently awaiting trial on charges that he illegally retained the documents after he left office.

Facing 40 federal charges over allegations that he held onto classified materials after leaving the White House, Trump remains the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges and vehemently denies any wrongdoing.