A federal judge decided Wednesday that Trump will be restricted on how and when he can look at, and talk about, classified information, after a sealed hearing the day before.
The decision appears to largely be in line with restrictions special counsel Jack Smith sought to protect classified information that may be evidence in the case against Trump, which accuses him of criminally mishandling sensitive national security secrets at his Florida club and residence after he left office.
The judge warned in her order of the consequences should any classified or otherwise sensitive information be improperly revealed to the public, pointing out such disclosures may violate the law.
She added that even if classified information “enters the public domain,” both Trump and his team will still be “precluded from making private or public statements” regarding the classified status of information or suggesting that their own access to information confirms or contradicts what’s in the public domain.
Trump already has several restrictions on how he can look at and not disseminate evidence he learns from prosecutors in his various criminal proceedings as he and his lawyers prepare for trial and receive masses of information collected by prosecutors.
The judge did not say if one of the areas where Trump can handle records, called a SCIF or sensitive compartmented information facility, would be established at the Trump properties, like he had had during his presidency.
But the judge said the SCIF areas would be overseen by a third-party officer from the federal government designated to guide the handling of the classified information in the federal case