Trump docs judge hands prosecutors setback

A federal judge handed a defeat Tuesday to prosecutors who indicted former President Donald Trump over his alleged mishandling of classified documents, denying a request to speed up the sharing of evidence with the defense.

Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed without prejudice Special Counsel Jack Smith’s motion to compel a response from Trump’s legal team about a protective order for disclosing classified evidence in the case, court filings show, with the jurist citing a “lack of meaningful conferral” between the two sides.

Prosecutors Jay Bratt, David Harbach and Julie Edelstein appeared in the courtroom opposite Trump attorneys Christopher Kise, Todd Blanche and Stanley Woodward, who is representing the former president’s valet Walt Nauta.

On June 8, Smith indicted Trump on 37 counts of having improperly stored boxes containing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in a ballroom, bathroom, bedroom, office space and basement storage room — and then lied to his attorneys and federal officials about having done so.

The special counsel’s 49-page indictment includes charges of willfully retaining national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheming to conceal a document or record and making false statements.

Nauta, Trump’s body man who formerly worked for him in the White House, was also indicted on six counts for allegedly aiding the former president in conspiracy, withholding, corruptly concealing, concealing, scheming to conceal and making false statements to federal investigators.

Smith’s office asked Cannon last month to move Trump’s trial date to Dec. 11, saying the former president’s defense team will need security clearances to handle some evidence. Most unclassified information has already been shared.

Last week, Trump’s defense team objected to provisions in a protective order for the sharing of classified evidence, prompting Smith’s team to request “an expedited schedule [for] any objections to the proposed protective order,” according to court filings.

Blanche and Kise in a June 13 filing had said they had completed tasks necessary to obtain security clearances “with one exception” and were “coordinating with the Litigation Security Group” at the Department of Justice.

Prosecutors said Trump’s attorneys on July 14 rebuffed a phone call request between the two parties and were “filing this motion now to avoid further delay.”

Smith’s office also said it made “minor, clarifying edits” to the protective order in the intervening days.

The Southern District of Florida typically provides two weeks for the sharing of criminal evidence.