Trump Must Walk Careful Line Until Trial

Former President Donald Trump will have to avoid a number of key witnesses in the criminal case accusing him of mishandling classified documents.

As part of Trump's arraignment in Miami on Tuesday, Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman ruled that the prosecution could create a limited list of witnesses and victims whom Trump would not be allowed to contact, except through counsel, for the duration of the trial.

That list includes Walt Nauta, Trump's aide and co-defendant who was also charged in the Justice Department's investigation. Nauta, the only person on the list publicized at the moment, has been charged with six counts, including conspiracy to obstruct justice and withholding a document or record, but his arraignment is not until June 27.

Trump is facing 37 charges, including 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information, and one count apiece of: conspiracy to obstruct justice; withholding a document or record; corruptly concealing a document or record; concealing a document in a federal investigation; scheme to conceal; and false statements and representations.

Trump and Nauta are still allowed to speak to each other about matters unrelated to the case.

Both men were released without bail and are not facing any travel restrictions. Prosecutor David Harbach told the court that "the government does not view either defendant as a flight risk."

Newsweek has reached out to Trump's 2024 campaign via email for comment.

Goodman's order for Trump not to contact the list of witnesses could be challenging for the former president, who is known to behave how he sees fit, even during times when there are legal provisions in place.

A day into the civil trial of columnist E. Jean Carroll, Trump defied an order for him to "refrain from making any statements that are likely to incite violence or civil unrest." After Trump blasted Carroll, who was accusing him of rape, over Truth Social, Judge Lewis Kaplan warned Trump's attorney that the former president was possibly "tampering with a new source of potential liability."

Kaplan told Trump attorney Joe Tacopina that the post was "entirely inappropriate" and suggested that Trump was trying to influence the jury.

"Your client is basically endeavoring certainly to speak to his 'public,' but more troublesome, to the jury in this case," Kaplan said.

Before heading to the federal courthouse on Tuesday, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "ONE OF THE SADDEST DAYS IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY. WE ARE A NATION IN DECLINE!!!"

Trump has sought to paint the indictment as a political witch hunt against him and his White House ambitions. He is currently the 2024 GOP frontrunner.

However, even some of the top attorneys who had previously defended Trump amid his Manhattan indictment have warned that the federal case poses a real threat of putting the former president behind bars. Trump also faces criminal charges in Manhattan in relation to hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr, who had called the Manhattan case "lousy" and "pathetically weak," said, "if even half of [the federal indictment] is true, then [Trump's] toast."

"The New York indictment is a joke. It's not strong. It's weak, it's embarrassing," constitutional lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who represented Trump in his first impeachment, said on a Monday episode of his podcast. "This one's strong. This one does have allegations that have to be responded to."