Trump special counsel seeks protective order to prevent trial delay

Special counsel Jack Smith seeks a protective order related to classified materials to prevent former President Donald Trump's legal team from further delaying the proceedings.

The Department of Justice has sought to limit Trump's access to certain classified materials related to the case, but claims in a Monday filing that his legal team had not engaged with them for several days to negotiate a solution, the Washington Examiner reported.

Under the DOJ proposal "[t]he defense may not disclose classified information to the Defendants unless that same information has been previously disclosed to the defense by the Defendants or provided by the government with markings indicating it may be disclosed to the Defendants."

The request will be heard at a Tuesday hearing and will be a critical moment in advancing the case, as Trump's attorneys must obtain security clearance to review the materials in question.

The case pertains to the FBI's seizure of materials from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in August of last year. Smith has charged the former president with 37 counts related to his alleged mishandling of sensitive materials. He has pleaded not guilty.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon tentatively set the trial date for Aug. 14, 2023, though Smith has requested it be delayed until December.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.