On March 22, U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon made a ruling regarding a request from special counsel Jack Smith in the high-profile classified documents case against former President Donald Trump.
The judge determined that information helpful to the defense may have to be shared in some form but information she deemed irrelevant to the case could be deleted from discovery.
To make these determinations, the judge reviews the special counsel’s “sworn representations of sensitivity and privilege” in the documents, but the material is still allowed to be disclosed when it is “relevant and helpful to the defense of an accused.”
“In seeking to withhold classified information from discovery under Section 4, all parties agree that the Special Counsel bears the burden of proof,” Judge Cannon wrote.
In a 21-page sealed order, Judge Cannon described the classified information at issue, while an 8-page public version was also submitted, outlining four document categories.
“The Court GRANTS the Special Counsel’s Motion as to Categories 3 and 4 in their entirety, as well as most of the Category 2 requests,” the judge wrote. “The Court RESERVES RULING on the entirety of Category 1 and the few remaining Category 2 requests, pending resolution