Former President Donald Trump and his lawyers have been ordered not to talk about sensitive information in his 37-count indictment for allegedly mishandling classified documents.
A federal judge on Monday approved a protective order sought by special counsel Jack Smith.
“Defendants shall only have access to Discovery Materials under the direct supervision of Defense Counsel or a member of Defense Counsel’s staff. Defendants shall not retain copies of Discovery Material,” Judge Bruce Reinhart wrote.
Reinhart also was the judge who approved the Mar-a-Lago search warrant, which allegedly found classified documents in Trump’s Florida residence.
Smith asked for the order on Friday to prevent Trump and his co-defendant, Walt Nauta, from disclosing information revealed to them in the discovery of evidence. It said evidence might lead to more arrests in the case if it’s not compromised.
“The materials also include information pertaining to ongoing investigations, the disclosure of which could compromise those investigations and identify uncharged individuals,” the department wrote.
Trump has railed against the indictment on the campaign trail. The 2024 GOP presidential frontrunner has called it a “witch hunt.”
In an appearance with supporters in New Jersey last week, Trump described some of the boxes that the raid at Mar-a-Lago uncovered. He said the boxes included “newspapers, press clippings,” and “thousands and thousands of White House pictures,” as well as “clothing, memorabilia, and much, much more.”
“I hadn’t had a chance to go through all the boxes,” Trump said, according to The New York Times. “It’s a long, tedious job, takes a long time. Which I was prepared to do, but I have a very busy life.”
Trump’s former attorney general, Bill Barr, was critical of his former boss in an interview Sunday. He said Trump likes to defy convention.
“He’s like a defiant 9-year-old kid who is always pushing the glass towards the edge of the table, defying his parents from stopping him from doing it,” Barr told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“Our country can’t be a therapy session for a troubled man like this,” Barr added.
Trump has held support from Republicans despite the indictment. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said the charges went too far.
“Espionage charges are absolutely ridiculous,” Graham said, according to NBC News. “Whether you like Trump or not, he did not commit espionage. He did not disseminate, leak or provide information to a foreign power or a news organization to damage this country. He is not a spy. He’s overcharged.”