Grant v. Trump

Nature of the document

The provided text is a September 15, 2023 letter from counsel for plaintiffs Edmond Grant, also known as Eddy Grant, and Greenheart Music Ltd. It asks the court for permission to file specified materials under seal in connection with the plaintiffs’ forthcoming motion for summary judgment. It is not a judicial opinion or order, and the text does not report a ruling on the request.

Materials at issue

The letter states that the parties had a stipulated protective order entered on February 17, 2022. According to the letter, defendants designated certain produced documents as “Confidential” and designated the entire depositions of Donald J. Trump and Daniel J. Scavino, Jr. as “Highly Confidential / Attorneys Eyes Only.” The plaintiffs also designated some documents they produced as “Confidential.”

The plaintiffs requested permission to file under seal documents bearing Bates numbers DEF 000047-48 and excerpts from the depositions of Donald J. Trump and Daniel J. Scavino, Jr. They also sought to seal specified licensing agreements related to the plaintiffs’ songs because, according to the letter, those agreements referred to or contained confidential, financial, and business information. Because the agreements would be referred to or quoted in the plaintiffs’ memorandum of law and statement of material facts, the plaintiffs additionally requested permission to file redacted versions of those papers while submitting unredacted versions to the court.

Positions and meet-and-confer process

The letter says the plaintiffs disputed the need to keep all of the materials confidential, particularly the deposition transcripts, and believed limited redactions could adequately protect defendants’ interests. It also says the plaintiffs might later seek to remove some confidentiality designations. Plaintiffs’ counsel reported meeting and conferring with defendants’ counsel on September 14 and 15, 2023. The letter further states that defendants’ counsel maintained the confidentiality designations for the identified documents and Trump deposition excerpts and were to explain the need for sealing or redaction within three days. The plaintiffs had not met and conferred with Scavino’s counsel before filing the excerpts but said they planned to do so immediately.

Disposition

The provided text contains no order granting, denying, or otherwise resolving the plaintiffs’ sealing request. It therefore does not establish the court’s disposition. Judge John G. Koeltl is identified as the judge addressed by the letter. The supplied case metadata lists September 18, 2023 as the filing date, while the letter itself is dated September 15, 2023.