Authorities investigating online threats made to potential witness related to Trump classified docs case

Former President Donald Trump arrives at the New York State Supreme Court in New York, on Oct. 2, 2023. (Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — Federal authorities are currently investigating a series of threats made online to a potential witness related to special counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, according to a new court filing from Smith’s team.

In the filing late Wednesday in federal court in Florida, Smith’s team asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, the judge overseeing the case, to let them file an exhibit under seal because, they wrote, “The exhibit describes in some detail threats that have been made over social media to a prospective Government witness and the surrounding circumstances, and the fact that those threats are the subject of an ongoing federal investigation being handled by a United States Attorney’s Office.”

“Disclosure of the details and circumstances of the threats risks disrupting the investigation,” the filing said.

The targeted witness was not identified.

The three-page filing discussing the probe was submitted as part of a dispute between Smith’s team and Trump’s lawyers over how much information should be redacted — or totally withheld from public view — in certain court filings.

In their filing Wednesday, Smith’s team urged Judge Cannon to let them file the exhibit completely under seal because, they said, simply redacting names or other parts of the document could still “provide information to the suspect to which he/she may not otherwise be entitled.”

Trump pleaded not guilty last June 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, and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get the documents back.

The former president, along with longtime aide Walt Nauta and staffer Carlos De Oliveira, also pleaded not guilty to allegedly attempting to delete surveillance footage at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

Trump has denounced the probe as a political witch hunt.

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