Trump-appointed judge denies special counsel’s request to seal witness list in classified documents case

Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon is overseeing the prosecution in the classified documents case

The judge overseeing the federal case against Donald Trump has denied special counsel Jack Smith’s motion to seal the list of witnesses that the former president is barred from contacting.

In a ruling on Monday, US District Judge Aileen Cannon – who was appointed by Mr Trump and is now overseeing the criminal case over his handling of classified documents on leaving the White House – said that the government had not provided a reason as to why the list needed to be kept from public view.

This means the list of 84 witnesses, who could testify against the former president during trial, could become publicly available – offering some insight into the special council’s case against Mr Trump.

“The Government’s motion does not explain why filing the list with the court is necessary it does not offer a particularised basis to justify sealing the list from public view,” Judge Cannon wrote.

“It does not explain why partial sealing, redaction, or means other than sealing are unavailable or unsatisfactory; and it does not specify the duration of any proposed seal.”

Earlier this month, Mr Trump was arraigned on 37 counts of willful retention of national defence secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, conspiracy to obstruct justice, corruptly concealing documents, concealing documents in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal and making false statements.

The federal counts are related to a months-long investigation by Mr Smith into the former president allegedly keeping classified documents with sensitive national security information at his Mar-a-Lago home.

During his arraignment at a federal court in Florida, a federal magistrate judge forbid Mr Trump from speaking with any witnesses in the case, including speaking about the case with his alleged co-defendant Walt Nauta.

Last week, the special counsel filed a motion to seal the list of witnesses, claiming that Mr Trump and Mr Nauta’s lawyers had not objected to it.

However, Judge Cannon said she does not believe this is a good enough reason to keep the list secret.

A group of media organisations including the New York Times, CNN, The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian had sought for the names to be made public, citing the interest of the American people.

According to The New York Times, the news organisations wrote to Judge Cannon that “the American public’s interest in this matter, and need to monitor its progress every step of the way, cannot be overstated”.

In addition to the motion to seal the witness list, Mr Smith’s prosecution also filed a motion to delay the trial until December after Judge Cannon set the initial trial date for 14 August.

Judge Cannon has asked that Mr Trump’s legal team respond to this request by 6 July.