Trump must review classified evidence in secure place, judge rules

Former US President Donald Trump and his lawyers may review classified evidence only in a secure place as he prepares for his trial over his handling of secret documents after leaving office in 2021, a judge ruled on Wednesday.

Trump, front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is charged with two aides with illegally storing many classified documents at his personal residence and lying to federal investigators who sought to retrieve them.

He opposed strict security protocols for the classified evidence as inconvenient, saying he and his lawyers should be able to review them in his office at his Mar-a-Lago estate, his personal residence in Palm Beach, Florida.

Wednesday’s ruling by US district judge Aileen Cannon in Florida is a win for prosecutors, who said it will be inappropriate for Trump to be able to review classified documents at the very place where he is accused of illegally and haphazardly storing them.

The order requires Trump and his lawyers to review and discuss all classified evidence in what is known as a sensitive compartmented information facility.

Trump was charged in June with violations of the Espionage Act, conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements to investigators.

Trump pleaded not guilty and with his co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira denied the charges, .

Trump is also under indictment in Washington, DC, and Georgia for his alleged efforts to reverse his 2020 election loss to Democratic President Joe Biden and in New York over a hush-money payment he paid to a porn star.

Trump pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing in all the cases. He says they are part of a political plot to stop him retaking the White House in the November 2024 election.

Reuters