Washington DC [US], August 10 : In the latest development, US former President Donald Trump, on Wednesday (local time), in a court filing argued that he should not be required to go to a sensitive information facility to discuss the classified document case, CNN reported.
Instead, Trump came up with the idea to discuss those materials at a facility “at or near his residence” which was earlier approved for discussing the classified information when he was president.
Trump’s lawyers did not specify which residence, arguing that doing so in a public filing would pose security concerns, and stressed that they aren’t seeking to physically take the documents to the facility.
The prosecutors had raised concerns about Trump's proposal to discuss the classified materials at his residence "office at Mar-a-Lago." Allowing such discussions at a private residence would amount to “exceptional treatment.”
Prosecutors also noted that Mar-a-Lago – Trump’s Florida resort – is where Trump’s alleged crimes took place, according to CNN.
Replying to prosecutors on Wednesday (local time), the Trump team asserted that his residence is “a highly protected location guarded by federal agents that previously housed a secure facility approved for not only the discussion but also the retention, of classified information.”
Trump’s lawyers argued that requiring the former president to travel to the SCIF at the Miami federal courthouse – where the classified evidence would be housed – just to discuss the materials would create “immense practical and logistical hurdles.”
“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 poses an enormous obstacle to our ability to provide counsel to President Trump regarding classified matters, which are, no doubt, essential to this case,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “Our proposed alternative is both reasonable and appropriate, given the extraordinary and unprecedented circumstances of this case.”
Meanwhile, Trump attorney Todd Blanche, in a separate filing, detailed the logistical challenges of travelling to the Miami courthouse for discussions with his attorneys about classified evidence, reported CNN.
It claimed that doing so would “would require an overnight stay in the local area by his protective detail, including members of the Secret Service, as well as an overnight stay by President Trump,” while also arguing that the courthouse operations would be severely disrupted with the visits, especially if the public learned in advance that Trump was visiting the facility.
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