Feds say Mar-a-Lago witnesses face ‘significant risks’ if identified

(CN) — Special counsel Jack Smith warns that potential witnesses in the Mar-a-Lago case would face "significant and immediate risks" if a judge allows them to be publicly identified in court records.

Smith asked federal Judge Aileen M. Cannon in a motion filed late Thursday to reconsider allowing defense attorneys for Donald Trump to file a largely unredacted copy of the government's evidence in the case.

The prosecutor argues the Trump appointee misapplied the legal standard that governs disclosure of discovery materials while ignoring the danger witnesses faced in the high-profile case.

The prosecutor's warning came amid a flurry of activity in the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida, where Trump is charged with hoarding classified documents at his resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

On Tuesday, Cannon granted the defense's motion seeking to reveal evidence the government turned over in discovery. Some private information, like addresses and phone numbers, would remain hidden, but the names of potential witnesses should be made public, Cannon ruled.

The judge wrote that prosecutors failed to prove there was a “compelling government interest” in sealing or redacting the materials.

Smith counters in the new motion that prosecutors did not need to prove that there was a compelling interest to seal or redact discovery materials. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled discovery materials may remain hidden simply by showing there is “good cause” to do so.

Publishing the names of government witnesses would expose them to “significant and immediate risks of threats, intimidation and harassment,” which has already happened in the former president’s cases, Smith said.

On Wednesday, the prosecutor revealed authorities were investigating online threats made against a potential witness in the Mar-a-Lago case. Cannon granted a request to seal the exhibit that detailed the threats.

Another potential witness, who discussed possible obstruction and witness tampering, declined to have his interview recorded because of the risk in “Trump World” for doing so, Smith says.

The federal judge presiding over Trump’s criminal case in Washington received a "racist death threat," Smith says, and a magistrate judge in Cannon’s district has also received numerous threats.

“The Court should not ignore this reality and expose the witnesses to such harm, particularly absent any defense argument for why exposure is justified,” Smith writes.

A copy of the discovery materials with limited redactions was expected to be filed Friday. Cannon instead issued an order to stay that deadline as she reviews the special counsel’s motion.

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