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Donald Trump's efforts to unseal documents in his classified documents case have received a boost after a coalition of news organizations pushed for greater transparency in the case.
Trump is facing dozens of felony charges accusing him of unlawfully retaining classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving the White House in 2021 and repeatedly obstructing government efforts to retrieve them.
Trump, who is facing three other criminal prosecutions as he seeks to reclaim the White House in November, has pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied any wrongdoing.
The former president's legal team on January 16 filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to compel special counsel Jack Smith's team to turn over a trove of documents related to the classified documents case.
Smith's team filed an opposition to Trump's motion two days later, saying the government "supports full transparency of the record consistent with witness safety, national security, and the Court's protective order." The filing listed six exhibits that the government wants to remain sealed, and 22 exhibits that can be released to Trump's team once certain "noted redactions" are made. The filing also listed other exhibits that Smith's team does not object to turning over and others that Trump's team has already received in discovery.
In a filing on Monday, Trump's lawyers accused Smith of failing to demonstrate why some documents needed to be sealed or redacted. Smith's office "made no effort to substantiate its vague claims concerning 'witness safety' and 'national security' as they relate to the requested redactions," the filing read.
"Many of the 'potential witnesses' referenced in President Trump's motions to compel have been disclosed in public reports relating to the case, in some instances based on apparent leaks by prosecutors, and in the FOIA releases discussed in President Trump's motions, which reveal some of the witnesses' government email addresses."
Also on Monday, attorneys representing a coalition of local and national news media organizations filed a motion asking the court to ensure the proposed redactions and withholdings are necessary.
The filing, which Newsweek reviewed, said that the coalition "agrees that these records are presumptively public and that the Government must carry a heavy burden to justify sealing them in whole or in part."
The coalition includes The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, the Miami Herald and The Palm Beach Post.
Newsweek has contacted Smith's office, as well as attorneys for Trump and the news media coalition, for comment via email.
The coalition is asking the court to conduct an independent review of the government's proposed redactions to ensure that they are "as narrow as possible" and that the government has "sufficiently explained why each reduction is necessary," attorneys wrote in the filing.
"Whatever the ultimate outcome of this trial, the public must have confidence in the process, and that confidence can only be fostered through transparency from the start to finish of this prosecution," the attorneys wrote.
The coalition "requests the Court grant its request to intervene in these proceedings for the limited purpose of arguing for openness and opposing attempts to deny public access to records or proceedings throughout this case and to oppose any unwarranted sealing of these particular records, and further requests that the Court promptly provide access to all portions of the Motions to Compel and exhibits as to which the Government has no objection to unsealing."
The case is currently scheduled for trial on May 20, but it could be delayed.
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About the writer
Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's National Correspondent based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on education and national news. Khaleda ... Read more