Lawyers for two co-defendants of former President Donald Trump in the classified documents case are asking a judge on Friday to dismiss charges against them. Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira are charged with conspiring with Trump to obstruct an FBI investigation into the hoarding of classified documents at the former president’s Palm Beach estate. All three have pleaded not guilty.
Quick Read
- Legal Motion: Lawyers for Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, co-defendants in the classified documents case involving former President Donald Trump, are seeking to have charges against them dismissed.
- Charges and Defense: Nauta and De Oliveira are accused of conspiring with Trump to obstruct an FBI investigation into classified documents at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. They are not charged with the illegal storage of documents but are alleged to have assisted in obstructing the retrieval of these documents.
- Court Proceedings: The request to dismiss the charges will be presented to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon during a Friday afternoon hearing. The timing of the judge’s decision is currently uncertain.
- Specific Allegations: Prosecutors claim Nauta moved boxes potentially to hinder their return to the government and that he, along with De Oliveira, tried to delete surveillance footage showing this activity, which the FBI was seeking.
- Defense Arguments:
- Lawyers for De Oliveira argue that there is no evidence he was aware the boxes contained classified documents or that he knew of the government’s investigation when he moved them.
- They also state that the Superseding Indictment does not allege De Oliveira ever saw a classified document.
- Trump’s Legal Battles: Trump has filed several motions to dismiss the charges against him, with Judge Cannon recently denying two. These included challenges to the constitutionality of the Espionage Act and claims under the Presidential Records Act regarding his rights to retain classified documents post-presidency.
The Associated Press has the story:
Trump’s co-defendants in classified docs case ask judge to dismiss charges against them
Newslooks- FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) —
Lawyers for two co-defendants of former President Donald Trump in the classified documents case are asking a judge on Friday to dismiss charges against them. Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira are charged with conspiring with Trump to obstruct an FBI investigation into the hoarding of classified documents at the former president’s Palm Beach estate. All three have pleaded not guilty.
Lawyers for Nauta and De Oliveira are set to ask U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon during a Friday afternoon hearing to throw out the charges they face, a request opposed by special counsel Jack Smith’s team, which brought charges against them and Trump. It’s unclear when the judge might rule.
The two Trump aides are not charged with illegally storing the documents but rather with helping Trump obstruct government efforts to get them back.
Prosecutors say that Nauta in 2022 moved dozens of boxes from a storage room at Mar-a-Lago to Trump’s residence in an apparent effort to prevent their return to the government and that he and De Oliveira conspired with Trump to try to delete surveillance video that showed the movement of the boxes and that was being sought by the FBI.
Lawyers for the men argue that there is no allegation that either man knew that the boxes contained sensitive government records.
“The Superseding Indictment does not allege that Mr. De Oliveira ever saw a classified document. It does not allege that Mr. De Oliveira was aware of the presence of any classified documents in the boxes that he moved,” lawyers for De Oliveira wrote in court filings.
They also say there’s no evidence that he was aware of any government investigation at the time he helped move boxes inside the property.
Trump, Republicans’ presumptive presidential nominee, has separately filed multiple motions seeking to dismiss charges against him. Cannon has denied two that were argued last month — one that said the Espionage Act statute at the heart of the case was unconstitutionally vague, the other that asserted that Trump was entitled under a 1978 law called the Presidential Records Act to retain the classified files as his personal property after he left the White House following his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
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