Trump attorneys fight requirement to review Mar-a-Lago evidence in a secure setting

Former President Trump is fighting to be allowed to view classified evidence in the Mar-a-Lago trial outside of a secure setting, challenging standard protocol in a case where he is accused of mishandling such records.

A late Thursday filing from prosecutors detailed delays in securing an order setting out boundaries for how classified evidence will be handled in the case by both the defendants and their attorneys.

Prosecutors said a sticking point has been Trump’s desire to review the classified evidence in the case outside of a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) — the setting in which the highly classified documents in question in the case would typically be reviewed.

“Defendant Trump’s counsel objects to the provisions in the proposed protective order that require them to discuss classified information with their client only within a SCIF,” the government writes. “They expressed concerns regarding the inconvenience posed by this limitation and requested that Defendant Trump be permitted to discuss classified information with his counsel in his office at Mar-a-Lago, and possibly Bedminster.

“Defendant Trump’s personal residences and offices are not lawful locations for the discussion of classified information, any more than they would be for any private citizen. … It is particularly striking that he seeks permission to do so in the very location at which he is charged with willfully retaining the documents charged in this case.”

The Trump team’s case for a more lax setting for reviewing the evidence was also highlighted by legal experts.

“Can’t overstate the brazenness of former President’s request to discuss classified info w/ his [attorneys] at Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster, which are the scenes of the crime. It’s like a request to re-victimize the U.S. govt/intelligence community,” Brandon Van Grack, a former top national security lawyer with the Department of Justice (DOJ) who is now in private practice, wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. 

Others noted Trump is asking to waive requirements every other security clearance holder would be expected to follow, a point also noted by prosecutors.

“The government is not aware of any case in which a defendant has been permitted to discuss classified information in a private residence, and such exceptional treatment would not be consistent with the law,” they wrote.

The filing comes after Judge Aileen Cannon ordered the parties to meet again to hash out an agreement about how to handle classified evidence in the case.

The new proposal drops language from the DOJ’s initial proposal that would have required Trump and his attorneys to sign an agreement stating they would follow the protective order.

“I don’t love dropping it, but I assume DOJ decided that parties & their [attorneys] are required [to] follow court orders regardless of whether they sign a personal attestation. Fine I guess. I would have held the line, but in general I’m in favor of DOJ not picking unnecessary battles,” Brian Greer, a former CIA attorney, wrote on X.