Former President Donald Trump wants permission to be able to review the documents he is accused of illegally retaining at his Mar-a-Lago country club — the scene of the alleged crime, and where the FBI eventually recovered them during a raid a year ago.
In a Wednesday filing with U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, his lawyers said that the “SCIF” — a sensitive compartmented information facility — that had been set up for Trump on his South Florida property during his presidency be reestablished, and that it was simply too burdensome for Trump to have to travel to already existing SCIFs in the area to consult with his lawyers as they prepare for trial.
“Both the required security protocol surrounding President Trump’s travel and the challenges surrounding the media’s and public’s intense focus on this prosecution pose an enormous obstacle to our ability to provide counsel to President Trump regarding classified matters, which are, no doubt, essential to the case,” Chris Kise and Todd Blanche wrote in the 11-page brief.
“Limiting any discussions with counsel to the government offered SCIFs is an inappropriate, unnecessary, and unworkable restriction,” they wrote. “Re-establishing the same secure area that existed during President Trump’s term as President of the United States is a secure, efficient, and cost-effective way for these conversations to take place in a fully secure environment.”
The request is yet another instance of Trump asking for privileges not granted to ordinary criminal defendants. He has so far been charged on 78 felony counts in three indictments but has yet to wear handcuffs, post bail, surrender his passport or even have his mug shot taken.
In the Mar-a-Lago case, Trump was indicted in June for retaining classified documents in his ballroom, his office, even his bathroom, and then trying to hide them from authorities seeking their return. An updated indictment filed late last month added charges that he tried to erase a computer server containing incriminating videotaped footage of his employees moving the documents from one place to another at his request.
Trump’s lawyers on Wednesday denied that allegation. “No videotapes were deleted or destroyed,” they wrote. “Indeed, President Trump has produced to the special counsel’s office what amounts to more than eight years of CCTV footage.”
A trial in the Mar-a-Lago case has been tentatively set for May, although that was before the new charges were added.
Trump is also facing a second federal indictment filed last week for his actions leading up to and on his Jan. 6, 2021, coup attempt. No trial date has been set in that case, while a March trial is set in a New York City case in which he is accused of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 hush money payment to a porn star in the days leading up to the 2016 election.
A fourth indictment could come as early as next week in Georgia, where the Fulton County district attorney has been investigating his attempts to coerce state elections officials into overturning his loss in that state to Democrat Joe Biden.
Despite all the criminal cases, though, Trump continues to be the front-runner in the GOP primary race for the 2024 presidential nomination.