The Washington Post said Thursday it has petitioned a federal court to open sealed and redacted records in the case against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort Paul John ManafortOur Constitution is under attack by Attorney General William Barr Bannon trial date set in alleged border wall scam Conspicuous by their absence from the Republican Convention MORE.

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“The investigation, which concerns the integrity of this country’s elections, goes to the core of the interests protected by the First Amendment,” the Washington Post wrote in its motion, filed in U.S. district court in Washington, D.C.

Manafort was convicted in August on charges of bank and tax fraud. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon in Virginia, and then another sentencing next week in Washington for a separate case.

The Post's motion argues "the protection of ongoing criminal investigation" in Manafort's case was too broad in characterizing that protection as an unspecific rubber stamp.



“The Post acknowledges that protection of ongoing criminal investigations has been recognized as a compelling interest that could justify sealing, at least as a general matter,” the newspaper wrote in its filing. “But courts are not permitted to simply rubber-stamp the government’s assertions on this front — the Court must make specific findings showing that the sealing of any material is narrowly tailored to actually serve that interest.”

Attorneys for the Post asked Judge Amy Berman Jackson to unseal the records after providing the government 10 days to respond, while also asking "prosecutors to notify the court within seven days once any related pending investigation is ending, for potential further unsealing of materials, and to justify the continued sealing of any remaining material every four weeks."