Subject: Re: Files
However, if Maxwell had chosen to use some of that for some reason, wouldn't that then become public record as it is now part of a court case? How do you square that circle?

Yes, it would become part of a court record. Because use of government documents in a court case is exempt from most statutes restricting disclosure. That doesn't mean the government can just publish documents that weren't used in a court case, which are still very much protected.

There are reasons for that difference. Perhaps most importantly, the judge in a legal proceeding can (and often does) order some of the court records sealed so that information that should be protected from disclosure will be.