Justice Dept. Files Renewed Motion for Protective Order in MAL Case

On July 27, the Justice Department issued a motion for a renewed protective order pertaining to classified information in its case against former President Donald Trump and others for their alleged improper storage of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. 

The motion includes an updated version of the government’s July 17 proposed protective order—pursuant to Section 3 of the Classified Information Procedures Act—that would “protect against the disclosure of any classified information disclosed by the United States to any defendant in any criminal case.” The government’s proposed protective order requires that all classified information be “processed, stored, used, or discussed in an accredited sensitive compartmented information facility” or SCIF.

According to the Justice Department, Trump has requested that he be permitted to discuss classified information with his counsel outside of SCIFs—potentially including at his private Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster Club residences. In its motion, the Justice Department objected to Trump’s request, writing that it is “particularly striking” that he is seeking to discuss classified information at “the very location at which he is charged with willfully retaining the documents charged in this case.”

The government’s new proposed protective order “appropriately requires that classified information be handled as the law requires” and gives the court-appointed Classified Information Security Officer the discretion to authorize the defense to discuss the classified documents in specific locations “so long as sufficient security measures are in place.”

According to the Justice Department, Trump’s co-defendant, Waltine Nauta, also objects to language in the department’s initial proposed order that limits his personal access to classified information.

You can read the department’s motion here or below:

And you can read the proposed protective order here or below: