A federal judge on Tuesday sided with special counsel Jack Smith, ordering former President Donald Trump's legal team to redact identifying information of witnesses in court documents. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI |
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April 10 (UPI) -- The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump's classified documents case has ruled against the former president, preventing him from disclosing the identities of potential government witnesses.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon issued her 24-page ruling Tuesday, following protracted litigation that began earlier this year when special counsel Jack Smith asked for information about government witnesses to be redacted in publicly published court documents over fears they could become victims of harassment.
With the order, identifying information of some two dozen potential witnesses will remain sealed from the public. The court document stipulates that each government witness will be referred to with either a pseudonym or a description, such as John Smith or NARA Employee 1.
The ruling follows what Cannon described as a "lengthy procedural history" that began in mid-January when the former president's legal team filed a motion to compel discovery that included exhibits with unredacted information that Smith took exception too.
Beginning March 1, Cannon heard arguments on the matter. Smith offered examples of threats or concerning communications directed at judicial officers and law enforcement agents connected to the case.
The ruling is a reversal of an earlier Cannon ordered on the issue, and comes amid feuding between her and the special counsel who has questioned some of her uncommon legislative rulings.
Cannon, a Trump appointee, used her order Tuesday to criticize the special counsel, calling his request "sweeping in nature" in that it applies to all government witnesses while lacking precedent.
She also criticized how he went about his request, stating "the special counsel could have, and should have, raised its current argument previously."
Trump faces 40 criminal counts related to the illegal retention of classified documents from his time in the White House that were seized from his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort residence during an FBI raid in August 2022.
