Trump Lawyers Raise Concerns Over Sensitive Witness Info in Election Case

The U.S. federal courthouse E. Barrett Prettyman in Washington on Sept. 16, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers urged a federal court on Tuesday to prevent sensitive information from being made public in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case alleging election interference.

Attorneys for the Republican presidential nominee asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is preceding over the case, to reject a recent request by Smith to make parts of a roughly 180-page legal brief public, citing concerns over the safety of witnesses.

Smith filed the new legal brief under seal late last month to justify his latest superseding indictment against Trump after the Supreme Court ruled in July that presidents are protected by some presidential immunity from criminal prosecution.

The nation’s highest court held that presidents enjoy absolute immunity for acts that fall within their “conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority,” a presumption of immunity for their official acts, and no immunity for unofficial acts.

That ruling effectively sent the case back to Chutkan to decide which of Smith’s charges against Trump can stand.

Smith’s latest filing is expected to include grand jury testimony, materials obtained through sealed search warrants, transcripts and reports of witness interviews, and materials obtained from other governmental entities, Trump’s legal team said.

In their filing with the court, Trump’s attorneys argued that in numerous instances, the redactions and pseudonyms proposed by Smith’s office “fail to meaningfully mitigate the privacy and safety issues” previously discussed by both prosecutors and the defense.

Trump’s legal team also accused Smith’s office of placing its own political goals ahead of the safety and privacy of witnesses and Trump’s constitutional rights to impartial jurors and fair proceedings.

Further redactions are needed to ensure there are no risks to potential witnesses, they said.

“The true motivation driving the efforts by the Special Counsel’s Office to disseminate witness statements that they previously sought to lock down is as obvious as it is inappropriate,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in the court filing. “The Office wants their politically motivated manifesto to be public, contrary to the Justice Manual and longstanding DOJ norms in cases not involving President Trump, in the final weeks of the 2024 Presidential election while early voting has already begun throughout the United States.”

Trump’s attorneys further noted that Smith’s indictment against Trump “just so happens to retread false allegations against the leading candidate for the Presidency during early voting for the 2024 election.”

For these reasons, the court should require Smith’s office to “make complete, consistent redactions regarding identity-related information” in the motion and “show cause why their proposed public disclosure of voluminous purportedly sensitive witness statements is consistent with the risks of witness safety, potential juror taint, and the integrity of the proceedings that they have cited,” Trump’s lawyers said.

In filing the sealed brief last week, Smith said the prosecution’s redactions will adequately protect sensitive materials and witnesses in the case while simultaneously ensuring the integrity of the judicial proceedings against Trump.

Ultimately, Chutkan will decide how much of the prosecutors’ brief can be made public.

Smith’s office filed a revised indictment in the case against Trump in August, accusing him of trying to overturn the 2020 election.

The latest indictment charges him with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.

Trump pleaded not guilty to the revised indictment last month.

The Epoch Times contacted Smith’s office for further comment but didn’t receive a reply by publication time.

Caden Pearson and Jack Phillips contributed to this report.