Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago classified documents case may this week "see fireworks," former attorney Joyce Vance said.
In June 2023, Trump was charged with with retaining national defense information—including U.S. nuclear secrets and plans for military retaliation in the event of an attack—and obstructing the government's efforts to retrieve them.
Prosecutors have said Trump took documents that he was no longer authorized to have after leaving the White House in January 2021 and resisted repeated requests by federal officials to return them. Trump has denied all wrongdoing and maintained his innocence in the indictment.
On Friday, special counsel Jack Smith, who is prosecuting the case, filed a 67-page document rejecting a motion by Trump and co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira for additional discovery.
He responded to Trump's accusations that the case was politically motivated.
"The defendants' insinuations have scant factual or legal relevance to their discovery requests, but they should not stand uncorrected," the prosecution motion said.
Writing on her Substack blog, Civil Discourse, Vance said this showed Smith "is willing to go to the mattresses" over Trump, meaning "we may see more fireworks" in the case.
"We may see more fireworks in the Mar-a-Lago [case] this week, where Jack Smith has shown he is willing to go to the mattresses over Trump's claims that the government is withholding discovery from him."
Newsweek contacted a representative for Trump by email to comment on this story.
In his motion, Trump suggested he had some form of security clearance issued by the Department of Energy that continued after he left the White House.
Vance wrote: "Smith eviscerates that claim in response to Trump's effort to force the government to search for more evidence that such a clearance existed."
On Friday, ABC News reported on claims that the FBI failed to search two key areas when raiding Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in August 2022. The publication said Smith's team has questioned several witnesses about a locked closet and a hidden room inside Mar-a-Lago that the FBI didn't check while searching the estate. The publication cited anonymous sources in the report.
Newsweek hasn't been able to confirm the reporting and contacted the FBI by email on Friday for comment.
The trial in the classified documents case is set to begin on May 20, but appeals based on Trump's disclosure arguments could delay it. If Trump, the GOP front-runner, wins the election, he could seek to have the charges in his cases dropped.
Aside from this case, Trump is facing three other criminal prosecutions, in which he has pleaded not guilty.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Kate Plummer is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. politics and national affairs, and ... Read more
