Federal judge denies media request for records related to Trump grand jury subpoena

A federal judge on Saturday denied a request from news outlets to provide access to records related to former President Trump’s compliance with a grand jury subpoena to turn over classified materials held at his Mar-a-Lago residence.

Chief District Judge Beryl Howell rejected the outlets’ argument that secrecy was no longer necessary given the “extensive public judicial disclosure” and the “profound interest” in and “gravity” of a request by the government to hold the former president and current 2024 presidential candidate in contempt.

“Even though the government disclosed the existence of the Subpoena in connection with another judicial proceeding pending in another circuit, that disclosure … did not reveal the details of ancillary proceedings relating to the government’s efforts to enforce, and the former president’s efforts to comply, with the Subpoena,” Howell said in Saturday’s order.

Howell added that it would be “infeasible” to respond to the news organizations’ request “without disclosing grand jury material,” noting that “redaction is simply not possible” in this case.

The news organizations sued for access to the records in December, after Howell declined to admit press into a hearing reportedly related to contempt proceedings, according to Politico, who was part of the suit.

Howell denied a similar request from Politico and The New York Times in February that sought to unseal court filings from a grand jury investigation into the Jan. 6 riot and Trump’s use of executive privilege.