A five-year undercover FBI probe into corruption at City Hall heretofore shrouded in secrecy may no longer be kept so quiet. While the work of the District Attorney's office and the FBI's San Francisco office recently landed former state Senator Leland Yee a five-year sentence in federal prison for racketeering and in January brought corruption charges against former Human Rights Commission staffers Nazly Mohajer and Zula Jones as well as Yee's former political consultant Keith Jackson, details of the probe's findings have been scant.

Indeed, District Attorney George Gascón hasn't disclosed much since filing the charges against those last three officials. That's because in 2014 US District Judge Charles Breyer, in whose court Yee was sentenced as well as another major probe-caught figure found guilty, one Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow, had issued a protective order keeping both the prosecution and defense from disclosing evidence outside the trial. But now KRON 4 reports that an SF judge has ruled that the protective order doesn't apply to the related state corruption case regarding Jones, Mahajer, and Jackson.

A spokesperson for Gascón says that city prosecutors will seek a new protective order from a Superior Court judge. That's something Public Defender Jeff Adachi's office opposes. “We think a trial about public corruption should be public. We think it should be as transparent as possible,” spokesperson Tamara Aparton reportedly said.

As of now, Judge Breyer has clarified that, in terms of his original protective order, "The state court is not bound by the protective order in this case and may enter any order pertaining to the affected materials that it considers appropriate." As prosecutors haven't provided them with evidence, defense attorneys say that their clients are not yet able to offer any pleas.

Previously: [Update] Three Local Politicos, Including Keith Jackson, Indicted On Corruption Charges