“The materials discovered, together with any information derived from them, may not be disclosed to the public or to the media, or on any social media platform without prior notice and consent of the court,” judge Bruce Reinhart said in his ruling, according to the news agency Europa Press
In this sense, the defendants, both Trump and his assistant Walt Nauta – accused in the same case – will only have access to the information of the judicial process under the direct supervision of their legal team. “The defendants will not keep copies of the material,” he added.
In case of violating the order requested by special prosecutor Smith, Judge Reinhart warned, the two defendants could face criminal charges for contempt of court, as well as other civil sanctions, ABC reported.
Donald Trump: what are the charges he faces
The 37 charges against Trump range from willful withholding of national defense information to conspiracy to obstruct justice in connection with the investigation against him into numerous classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago residence, in Florida.
The tycoon stored boxes in various places in his residence, such as his bedroom or one of his offices, although they were also found in the bathroom and shower.
Trump showed pages marked as classified up to two times to several people, while also ordering Nauta to move the papers around so they wouldn’t be found.
In the United States, one law requires presidents to send all their emails, letters and other working documents to the National Archives, and another rule prohibits storing state secrets in unauthorized and insecure places.
In January 2021, when he left the White House for his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida, Trump took dozens of boxes full of files.
According to the indictment, these boxes – some with the legend “defense secret” – were stacked on the stage of a ballroom in the hotel complex before being transported to a storage area located near a swimming pool.
In January 2022, after receiving several requests from the authorities, Trump decided to return boxes with some 200 classified documents.
Convinced that he had not handed over all the documents in his possession, several FBI agents searched Mar-a-Lago on August 8 and took another thirty boxes with 11,000 documents inside.
How it impacts the Presidential Elections
The Republican leader, who is trying to run again for the presidency in next year’s elections, has insisted in recent days, as he has throughout years of legal trouble, that he did nothing wrong and that the entire case constitutes political persecution. to thwart his return to power.
The process is seen as the most compromising that the former president faces. According to prosecutors, it could have endangered national security in the event of public exposure.
The accusations do not appear to have dented the support of the Republican base, and Trump remains the candidate of the party that best measures in polls ahead of the primaries for the presidential elections of November 2024.
Still, it poses profound legal consequences given the prospect of a multi-year prison sentence, both because of the volume of evidence prosecutors say they have amassed and the seriousness of the charges.
The case has historical characteristics, because it is the first time that the Department of Justice has filed charges against a former president.
Last April, Trump was charged with accounting fraud by the New York State Court for secret payments during his 2016 presidential campaign.
The former president faces other investigations in Washington and in the state of Georgia for alleged illegal efforts to reverse the results of his electoral loss against Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 elections.
Source: Ambito
