Special Counsel Jack Smith submitted a request Friday for a protective order “against the dissemination of discovery materials and the sensitive information that they contain.” The order would directly prevent Trump from disclosing evidence and materials shared with him and his legal team by the DOJ to the public.
It’s not an unusual filing since the case centers on Donald Trump keeping classified documents and failing to secure them. It’s filed under the 1917 Espionage Act as if he were a spy.
The Justice Department won’t let Donald Trump’s lawyers see the documents that are evidence in Mr. Trump’s criminal case unless they receive security clearances.
What it comes down to is Jack Smith is muzzling Donald Trump. He wants to keep him from discussing the documents publicly. At the same time, the DOJ is leaking exactly what documents they claim are in contention.
Judge Cannon on Thursday ordered Trump’s lawyers to obtain security clearances.
The protective order will be reviewed by Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who approved the initial FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago. A Magistrate is an appointed bureaucrat with administrative responsibilities.
The Hill reported:
The documents “include information pertaining to ongoing investigations,” which could be used to further cases against uncharged individuals, the Department of Justice (DOJ) wrote.
The suggested protective order, which will be reviewed by Judge Bruce Reinhart, would allow Trump to review the 31 documents the DOJ is using in the case only while in the presence of his attorneys.
“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. Defendants may take notes regarding Discovery Materials, but such notes shall be stored securely by Defense Counsel,” the DOJ wrote.
For decades, the government has had a lax view of classified documents. Over a million people have left government service with classified security clearances. The bureaucrats in charge only care when the person with the documents is Donald Trump.
When Donald Trump entered office, and later in his term, he was accused of not guarding secrets — without any evidence. Democrats demanded he not have access to the nuclear codes. Meanwhile, the only people bringing us to the threshold of nuclear war are Joe Biden and his advisors.
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