A United States judge from Florida ordered former US President Donald Trump's lawyers on Monday not to release evidence in the classified documents case to the media or the public.
The ruling came from US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who also placed strict conditions on the Republican businessman's access to the materials. The Monday filing said that the "Discovery materials," as well as any other information derived from there, shall not be released to the public or the news media or disseminated on any news or social media platform.
Judge Orders Withholding of Evidence in Trump Docs Case
Reinhart also noted that the former president "shall not retain copies" of the materials and said that Trump could only review case materials "under the direct supervision of Defense Counsel or a member of Defense Counsel's staff."
The judge's order granted a motion filed last week by prosecutors who requested the court to put conditions on how the defense team stores and uses the documents.
The situation comes as Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, was indicted on federal charges relating to his handling of classified documents taken from the White House, as per Reuters.
On the other hand, the former president pleaded not guilty to all of the 37 counts filed against him. Trump has continued to defend his handling of the sensitive materials and said in an interview with Fox News on Monday that he needed to go through the boxes to remove personal items, such as golf shirts, pants, and shoes.
In a statement, the Republican businessman said that he had to take all of his things out before he sent the boxes over. He noted that the boxes were interspersed with all sorts of things, adding that he was very busy then.
The former president then claimed that the boxes contained magazine articles, personal items, and art. On the other hand, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said that the boxes contained highly classified documents, including a plan to attack Iran.
Trump is now facing various legal challenges, including an indictment by New York City prosecutors regarding hush payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump Pleads Not Guilty to All Charges
Also, according to Yahoo News, Special Counsel Jack Smith, who Attorney-General Merrick Garland appointed, is investigating the former president's involvement in the Capitol Hill riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
The charges brought against Trump were also a result of his alleged efforts to obstruct the investigation, including hiding classified documents from federal agents. Prosecutors allege that the documents the former president kept included information about the US and foreign countries' defense and weapons capabilities.
They added that they also had information about the United States' nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities of the country and its allies to military attack, as well as plans for possible retaliation in response to foreign attacks.
The indictment argued that the unauthorized disclosure of the classified documents could result in the United States' national security being put at risk. It could also damage the country's foreign relations, threaten the safety of its military and human sources, as well as the continued viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods, said Aljazeera.
