Aileen Cannon blows off DOJ concerns about witness safety to give Trump a win

Judge Aileen Cannon gave Donald Trump's defense another win by blowing off concerns by the Department of Justice in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.

Special counsel Jack Smith's team met last week with the U.S. District Court judge to explain why some portions of their legal filings must be shielded from Trump's lawyers, but Cannon dismissed their concerns about doing harm to classified witnesses, disclosing an FBI code name for a separate investigation, and revealing uncharged conduct by one or more individuals.

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"Neither the Special Counsel’s publicly filed Response nor the accompanying sealed filing identifies the information it seeks to redact," Cannon wrote in her order. "Although 'protection of a continuing law enforcement investigation' can constitute a compelling governmental interest ... the Special Counsel fails to identify the information at issue, provide any explanation about the nature of the investigation, or explain how disclosure of the code name would prejudice or jeopardize the integrity of the separate investigation (assuming it remains ongoing)."

Cannon also found that the special counsel had failed to explain its specific factual or legal basis for redacting information about uncharged conduct, and she said Trump's defense hadn't even opposed publicly filing that information.

The ruling signals that Cannon will require the Department of Justice to disclose substantially more classified information to Trump's lawyers in the case.