Judge orders Trump not to release evidence in documents case

A federal judge has blocked former President Donald Trump from disclosing evidence and sensitive information discussed in his classified documents case.

US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who signed off last August on the search warrant for the 77-year-old’s Mar-a-Lago resort, sided with the Justice Department on Monday after special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutors filed a motion to keep the evidence in the case secured during the discovery process.

The judge said Trump and co-defendant Walt Nauta cannot “disclose the Discovery Materials or their contents directly or indirectly to any person or entity other than persons employed to assist in the defense, persons who are interviewed as potential witnesses, counsel for potential witnesses, and other persons to whom the Court may authorize disclosure.

“Defendants shall only have access to Discovery Materials under the direct supervision of Defense Counsel or a member of Defense Counsel’s staff. Defendants shall not retain copies of Discovery Material,” Reinhart added.

The judge warned that violations of the protective order “may result in contempt of court or other civil or criminal sanctions.”

Trump was arraigned last week on 37 counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified materials at his Palm Beach estate, becoming the first former president to face federal charges.

Prosecutors claim Trump repeatedly refused to hand over the materials to the National Archives, documents which included classified information on America’s defenses and nuclear capabilities.

Smith filed the motion for a protective order on Friday, telling the court that the evidence needed to remain out of the public eye for now and claiming the ongoing investigation into the documents could lead to more arrests.

“The materials also include information pertaining to ongoing investigations, the disclosure of which could compromise those investigations and identify uncharged individuals,” the Justice Department wrote.

This is not the first time such a motion has been filed against the former president. A similar order was filed last month in New York regarding a separate case about hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Prosecutors in that case said they were concerned Trump would share evidence from the case to social media, as the former president has often vented about his legal woes on his Truth Social site.