Donald Trump, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira are co-defendants in a federal case involving documents stored at Mar-a-Lago.Photo:Michael B. Thomas/Getty; Alon Skuy/Getty; CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty
Michael B. Thomas/Getty; Alon Skuy/Getty; CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty
A new superseding indictment in the federal case againstDonald Trumpand two of his staffers is full of what legal experts say is “very persuasive evidence” — and also begs the question of how the former president and his employees might defend themselves at trial, or if someone might flip and begin working with the prosecution.
Just last week, Trump — who wasearlier indicted on 37 counts— was hit withthree new federal chargesin the classified documents case, while Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira was charged with four counts, including obstruction of justice, as a co-defendant.Walt Nauta, a Trump aide, was earliercharged as a co-defendant, pitting the three men directly against federal investigators.
According to the indictment, de Oliveira, 56, told a fellow Mar-a-Lago employee that “the boss” wanted to delete a server containing surveillance footage — and just hours later, took a three-and-a-half-minute call from Trump himself.
The indictment further alleges that de Oliveira and Nauta moved boxes of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago to conceal them from both federal investigators and Trump’s own attorneys.
“There’s a whole chronology with interweaving facts,” O’Brien, now a partner at Ford O’Brien Landy LLP, says. “Trump talks to Nauta and Nauta talks to de Oliveira and de Oliveira talks to ‘Trump employee number four.'”
Another crucial tidbit in the superseding indictment is that those in Trump’s orbit allegedly exchanged messages about de Oliveira’s “loyalty,” and Trump himself told de Oliveira he would hire him an attorney.
Carlos de Oliveira leaves a court appearance in Miami on July 31, 2023.AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
“There’s a ripe time for people to flip and it’s early on,” says O’Brien. “That time has come and gone.”
Walt Nauta.Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
That the three co-defendants seem on the surface to be united is somewhat remarkable considering the evidence against them.
“There’s a saying: People may lie, but documents don’t,” says Norm Eisen, an attorney, former U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic and executive chair of theStates United Democracy Center.
As Eisen explains, the evidence laid out in the superseding indictment is damning — particularly the testimony from an unnamed Mar-a-Lago employee about Nauta and de Oliveira’s alleged conversations about security footage.
“A contemporaneous record of this kind is much more valuable than, say, a stereotypical jailhouse snitch that makes up stuff after the fact,” he says. “This was a communication that was captured in real time.”
Then there are the calls that allegedly came from Trump himself. “Trump made a call at the beginning of the series of events and at the end of the series of events,” Eisen says.
It’s unclear how Trump’s defense intends to explain those calls, but the timeline laid out in the indictment would make it difficult for the former president to suggest that Nauta and de Oliveira simply took it upon themselves to move documents or inquire about deleting security footage.
Aide Walt Nauta takes a phone from former President Donald Trump during a golfing event on May 25, 2023.Alex Brandon/AP Photo
Alex Brandon/AP Photo
According to O’Brien, the prosecution case could prove “enormously effective with a jury,” based on the timeline. But Trump could offer a defense that could “take the edge off” the charges, O’Brien adds.
“If you’re a defense lawyer … your defenses don’t have to be water tight. You want to take the edge off the allegation and suggest some doubt in the mind of the jury,” he says.
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“Now why would he do that? Why falsely incriminate Trump and de Oliveira? The defense will come up with theories,” O’Brien says. “There are other aspects of this chain that are documented. There are text messages, there are phone records .. but you don’t know the context of the call [from Trump].”
In other words, Trump’s defense team could say his calls to the co-defendants had nothing to do with documents or security footage at all.
Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, where Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira are alleged to have moved boxes filled with documents then attempt to cover it up.
One thing that could turn the case upside down, however, is if de Oliveira or Nauta were to get new legal counsel that isn’t affiliated with Trump.
“The government could make a motion to get the judge to order a new lawyer for [de Oliveira],” O’Brien notes. “They could say it’s for his own welfare.”
O’Brien citesCassidy Hutchinson— a former White House staffer who testified before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots — as an example. Hutchinson testified under oath that a Trump-aligned attorney initiallyinstructed her to give misleading testimonyto the House committee. Eventually, she reported the alleged pressure campaign and retained new counsel.
“Obviously if they became a government witness, the case becomes much stronger,” O’Brien notes. “But that is increasingly unlikely.”
Legal experts believe Taveras is likely cooperating with prosecutors based on the fact that he is not named in the indictment, as a means of protecting his privacy, and that he has not been indicted despite being reportedly served a target letter.
“That guy saw the light and he’s obviously cooperating,” O’Brien says.
source: people.com
