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Donald Trump's legal team have selected classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate that they want to use at trial.
On Monday, June 18, they notified Judge Aileen Cannon that they have made their first selection and notified a government classified information officer in Fort Pierce, Florida.
They also notified Cannon that they are making their selection under Section 5[a] of the Classified Information Procedure Act, the section of federal law that allows defendants in criminal trials to use classified documents if they require it.
The former president is facing 40 federal charges over his handling of sensitive materials retrieved from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, after leaving the White House in January 2021. He is also accused of obstructing efforts by federal authorities to return them. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Newsweek has contacted Trump's attorney via email for comment on Tuesday.
Trump's selection has not been made public. As his lawyers, Todd Blanche and Chris Kise, notified Cannon that this is their first selection, there are likely to be more, given the large volume of documents that the FBI uncovered at Mar-a-Lago.
Their selection follows a year of legal wrangling between the Trump legal team and federal prosecutor, Jack Smith.
Smith has repeatedly accused the Trump team of using the sensitive handling of classified documents as an excuse to delay the Trump trial as long as possible.
If Trump is elected president, he has a number of options to kill the case, including pardoning himself or appointing a favorable attorney general who would end the prosecution.
The Trump team has spent months examining all the classified documents found in Mar-a-Lago. They did so at a special secure room in Florida the government has provided.
The room is set up to avoid hacking or bugging and lawyers are not allowed to take cellphones inside.
Some of the documents are so sensitive that they have to be brought to the secure room by "members of the intelligence community," according to a court filing in the case. The Trump lawyers inspect them and then the intelligence officer takes the documents back the same day.
From previous court filings, Trump's team is likely to select classified documents that help prove their claim that Trump had security clearance to view and remove documents.
Delays in viewing classified documents have complicated the case significantly.
Cannon announced in late 2023 that she was designating the case "complex" under federal law, which allows her to delay the case if necessary.
In March, she announced that she was creating a new trial schedule, due to delays over the handling of classified documents.
She later announced that she was delaying the trial until at least the end of July, because she has to study a group of defense motions filed in court.
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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