Despite Donald Trump being targeted by a scathing indictment that included audio recordings of the former president bragging about showing people classified documents, his defense team has been trying to request those documents be made available at Mar-a-Lago, the literal scene of the crime. The judge in the case took a hard pass on that one.
According to Raw Story, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon was not convinced by Trump’s team promising to employ the use of a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) so he could look at the classified documents to mount his defense. The former president’s mishandling of top secret information is the crux of the indictment, so Cannon made it very clear that Trump’s team will only be handling documents at an actual secure facility. (Read: Not a private golf resort.)
Cannon even went so far as to threaten penalties if Trump’s team takes the documents anywhere besides the established facility.
“The limitations on disclosure of classified information set forth in this Order are binding on Defendant and his counsel and violations may result in criminal and/or civil penalties,” Cannon wrote in the ruling.
Adding insult to injury is the fact that Cannon was appointed by Trump, which has raised concerns about her overseeing the Florida indictment. However, based on this latest ruling, she’s not messing around.
(Via Raw Story)