(WASHINGTON) — Special counsel Jack Smith’s team has handed over to former President Donald Trump its first set of discovery materials supporting its case against him for allegedly mishandling classified documents and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them.
The handover was detailed in a court filing on Wednesday.
The former president has pleaded not guilty to 37 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information ranging from U.S. nuclear secrets to the nation’s defense capabilities.
According to the Wednesday’s filing, the materials handed over to Trump’s team consist of documents and evidence obtained through subpoena, search or grand jury testimony; a reproduction of “key” documents and photographs deemed to be pertinent to the case; and complete copies of closed-circuit television footage obtained by the government in its investigation.
Prosecutors also say in the filing that Trump’s team can arrange for inspection of any unclassified items seized during the FBI’s August 2022 search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate that remain in the government’s possession.
Trump, who has denied all wrongdoing, has called the special counsel’s probe a political “witch hunt.”
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on Tuesday set a tentative date of Aug. 14 for the start of the trial.
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