As is her habit of never making a clear, definitive decision, Judge Aileen Cannon has partially agreed to a motion by Special Counsel Jack Smith to redact the names and some private information of witnesses in adjudicated rapist and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s federal documents trial. Regarding other information, Cannon will require the Special Counsel’s office to explain, on a case-by-case basis, why the information should be redacted.
“In sum, the Court finds that the Special Counsel has made a sufficient ‘good cause’ showing to justify redactions of information in substantive witness statements that could be used to identify potential witnesses (along with witness names and P.I.I., as noted),” Cannon writes. “Confident that such redactions will address the witness-safety concerns at the center of the Special Counsel’s seal request, the Court exercises its discretion to decline the Special Counsel’s wholesale request to seal non-identifying substantive witness statements, for which no particularized factual or legal support has been presented.”