A federal judge on Monday rejected a request from special counsel Jack Smith to keep secret the names of 84 witnesses the government plans to call in its case against former President Donald Trump.
Trump has been charged with mishandling classified documents. When he was arraigned on the charges, he was instructed not to contact witnesses in the case or discuss the case with his co-defendant, longtime aide Walt Nauta.
Last week, prosecutors filed a request that the witness list be kept secret and that Trump sign a document saying he understood those on it could not be contacted.
On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon rejected the request.
“The Government’s Motion does not explain why filing the list with the Court is necessary; it does not offer a particularized basis to justify sealing the list from public view; it does not explain why partial sealing, redaction, or means other than sealing are unavailable or unsatisfactory; and it does not specify the duration of any proposed seal,” Cannon wrote, according to Insider.
Writing on Twitter, journalist Julie Kelly told her 440,000 followers that the ruling represented a “smackdown.” She also alluded to the outrage among leftist media outlets and politicians at the news that Cannon had been selected for the case by rotation of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Trump appointed Cannon to the federal bench in 2020.
“This is why they want to get rid of Judge Aileen Cannon in classified docs case,” Kelly wrote. “Her first smackdown of Special Counsel Jack Smith.”
Smith is not only attempting to keep this case under seal from the American people but impose absurd restrictions on the former president and Walt Nauta as to how evidence can be viewed. Cannon denies Smith’s demand to prevent Trump and Nauta to communicate with at least 84… pic.twitter.com/AiARrU38KR
— Julie Kelly ?? (@julie_kelly2) June 26, 2023
Another poster, using the handle “The Last Refuge,” wrote to more than 250,000 followers that, “It was/is a trap to keep Trump from public speaking, lest one of the 84 witnesses watch television and view communication from the defendant…. ie. Lawfare.”
It was/is a trap to keep Trump from public speaking, lest one of the 84 witnesses watch television and view communication from the defendant…. ie. Lawfare. https://t.co/ppUXyr0BFG
— TheLastRefuge (@TheLastRefuge2) June 26, 2023
On Monday, a group of news media organizations filed to make the witness list public, calling the case “one of the most consequential criminal cases in the nation’s history.”
“The American public’s interest in this matter, and need to monitor its progress every step of the way, cannot be overstated,” the media outlets wrote, according to The New York Times, which is one of the organizations involved.
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