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Prosecutors have handed over 5,100 pages of classified documents to former President Donald Trump's lawyers in the Mar-a-Lago case, the judge's latest ruling in the case revealed.
Judge Aileen Cannon's ruling offers an insight into the large number of classified documents that Trump is alleged to have been hoarding at his Florida estate. The number of pages of documents has been difficult to ascertain in a case in which many filings are sealed or heavily redacted.
The Associated Press noted in January that FBI agents took about 33 boxes and containers from Mar-a-Lago in a raid in August 2022, including roughly 100 boxes with classification markings.
Trump's lawyers have insisted on seeing every document taken from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, including those deemed to be highly classified.
Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith has accused Trump's lawyers several times of trying to use classified disclosure difficulties to delay the trial until after the 2024 presidential election, for which Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nomination.
Cannon's ruling on Tuesday was to deny access to the classified documents to Trump's co-accused, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira. She agreed with prosecutors' request that she "withhold personal access from Defendants Nauta and De Oliveira as to all classified discovery produced to date in this case, estimated currently at approximately 5,100 pages."
She also agreed that they should receive only redacted versions of four other sets of documents in the case.
Trump aide Nauta and Mar-a-Lago maintenance worker De Oliveira are accused of moving boxes of sensitive materials around Trump's Florida home to prevent federal agents from finding them, and conspiring to delete security footage that had been sought under subpoena.
Nauta and De Oliveira have pleaded not guilty to all federal charges against them, including conspiracy to obstruct justice. Newsweek reached out to their lawyers for comment via email on Thursday.
Cannon, who is overseeing the classified documents trial, has headed numerous Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) discussions with Trump's lawyers and Smith's team to deal with how the sensitive materials connected to the case should be handled during proceedings.
Smith's office previously filed a motion asking that Cannon refuse Nauta and De Oliveira's request to view the confidential presidential records they are accused of moving around Mar-a-Lago, arguing it was not necessary for their defense.
In response, Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump and has frequently faced accusations of favoring the former president in her judgments, sided with Smith after ruling he had "carried his burden" to withhold the materials from Nauta and De Oliveira.
"The Special Counsel has made a sufficient showing that Defendant Nauta and De Oliveira's personal review of the materials produced in classified discovery would not be 'relevant and helpful' to their defense," Cannon wrote.
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About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more