Special Counsel Jack Smith is urging for the protection of witnesses in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case against former President Donald Trump.

FBI agents searched Trump’s residence in August 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida. Authorities discovered thousands of classified documents illegally held by Trump with the intent of hiding them.

A request by Trump’s lawyers for more documents could threaten to reveal the identities of more witnesses in the case. Those who have already been identified have faced harassment and significant threats to their safety, prosecutors state. FBI agents, judges and prosecutors have also been threatened.

Outing the identities of more witnesses who are prepared to testify against Trump poses several risks to the case. In the past, two potential witnesses switched lawyers after Smith brought up conflicts of interest. Under the new lawyer, one witness revealed new information to the special counsel, leading to a new superseding indictment against Trump.

Smith’s team stated an investigation had opened after another witness faced severe threats.

The special counsel wrote in court filings, “Witnesses, agents, and judicial officers in this very case have been harassed and intimidated, and the further outing of additional witnesses will pose a similarly intolerable risk of turning their lives upside down.”

Last week, Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee who has previously been reprimanded by an appeals court for her faulty rulings, ordered Smith’s team to turn over the documents despite the risk of exposing witnesses’ identities.

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Ann Hoang

Article by Ann Hoang

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