Judge: Most documents in Bundy case in Nevada to stay sealed

LAS VEGAS — A federal judge is citing prosecutors’ concerns about threats of violence in a ruling that’ll keep many documents secret in the criminal case involving Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and a 2014 armed standoff with government agents.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen says she found a credible risk that public disclosure of information that prosecutors will have to provide to attorneys for the 19 defendants might be used to intimidate witnesses and court officials.

Leen’s order, issued Friday in Las Vegas, doesn’t apply to materials collected from the internet and other public sources.

It rejects arguments by some defendants and media including The Associated Press, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Nevada newspaper publisher Battle Born Media that grand jury transcripts, FBI and police reports and witness statements should be made public.