Judge in Trump docs case blasts special counsel for ‘secret’ grand jury filing

The Florida federal judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s classified documents case blasted prosecutors on Monday for trying to secretly introduce grand jury evidence from another jurisdiction.

US District Judge Aileen Cannon denied special counsel Jack Smith’s request to file under seal additional grand jury information from the District of Columbia, court filings show.

Cannon said there was not “sufficient legal or factual basis to warrant” the “secrecy” — and ordered a clerk to remove both of Smith’s filings from the South Florida docket.

Cannon also asked Trump’s legal team to respond to allegations from those grand jury proceedings that attorney Stanley Woodward — representing Trump valet Waltine Nauta — has conflicts of interest in the documents case, since three of his clients may be called to testify as government witnesses.

The potential witnesses include Mar-a-Lago IT director Yuscil Taveras and two others who worked in the Trump White House and followed the 45th president to Florida, filings show.

“All three of these witnesses may be witnesses for the Government at trial, raising the possibility that Mr. Woodward might be in the position of cross-examining past or current clients,” prosecutors said.

Defense attorneys have until Aug. 17 to address the “legal propriety of using an out-of-district grand jury proceeding to continue to investigate and/or to seek post-indictment hearings on matters pertinent to the instant indicted matter in this district,” Cannon said.

Prosecutors have until Aug. 22 to reply to Cannon and the defense team after having requested the post-indictment action, known as a Garcia hearing, to address the conflict-of-interest concerns.

“We will respond at the appropriate time through a filing with the court,” a spokesman for Smith’s office told The Post. Woodward declined to comment.

Nauta was indicted on six counts for allegedly conspiring with the former president to conceal classified material at Mar-a-Lago and then lie to federal authorities who sought its return.

Smith has indicted Trump on 40 counts of allegedly retaining national security information at his resort and ordering Nauta and property manager Carlos De Oliveira to hide boxes containing the documents from the FBI.

Prosecutors argued in their since-removed filing that De Oliveira’s July 27 indictment had already come from grand jury proceedings outside the district and undertaken in Washington, DC.

Smith also indicted Trump last week in DC federal court on four counts of allegedly conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election.