Special counsel Jack Smith is starting to turn over evidence to former President Donald Trump and his lawyers in the classified documents case, according to court filings that say the batch includes multiple recordings of interviews with Mr. Trump.
The filing’s reference to “interviews” suggest prosecutors are leveraging multiple recordings of Mr. Trump, made with his consent, and go beyond the Bedminster, New Jersey, tape in which Mr. Trump allegedly refers to plans for an attack of Iran — an episode mentioned in his indictment.
The filing says Mr. Smith turned over evidence procured by a subpoena or through search warrants. The batch includes transcripts from grand jury testimony, including that of “witnesses who will testify for the government at the trial of this case” and close-circuit TV footage from Mr. Trump’s Florida estate.
Mr. Trump faces a 37-count indictment that was handed up this month by a grand jury in Miami. It alleges that he unlawfully stored classified documents related to nuclear and military secrets, among other papers, at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and obstructed efforts to return them to the National Archives.
Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty and says the case is a witch hunt designed to thwart his 2024 presidential bid.
He said his declassification powers as president entitled him to the documents and that he was very busy and needed to sift through his boxes of possessions when archivists came calling for classified documents.
The production of evidence to defense attorneys is part of the routine “discovery phase” before trial.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon scheduled the trial to begin Aug. 14, but it is unlikely that will happen, given the number of pretrial motions and decisions that must be made.
Mr. Trump’s personal aide, Walt Nauta, is charged with helping Mr. Trump obstruct investigators who sought the documents. He is set to enter a plea in the coming days.
The first batch of evidence given to Mr. Trump includes an FBI interview with Mr. Nauta and his testimony to the grand jury.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.