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Mar-a-Lago employee makes first court appearance over classified documents

2023-07-31 23:00:10, Kosova & Bota CNA

The manager of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate made his first court appearance Monday on charges in the former president's classified documents lawsuit. The process did not proceed further with his own plea since he has not yet been able to find an attorney to represent him in the state of Florida.

Carlos De Oliveira is accused of colluding with former President Trump in attempting to delete security camera footage sought by prosecutors investigating the former president's receipt and retention of classified documents at his Palm Beach estate. Mr. De Oliveira's name was added to the indictment prepared against former President Trump and his aide Walt Nauta, and he is accused, among other things, of conspiracy to obstruct justice and of lying to investigators.

Mr. De Oliveira, dressed in a blue suit and tie, answered the judge's questions during a brief hearing in Miami federal court. He was ordered to surrender his passport and sign an agreement agreeing to pay $100,000 if he does not appear in court again. He was represented by Washington attorney John Irving, but according to court rules, he needs a local judge to proceed with the arraignment, which was scheduled for Aug. 10 in Fort Pierce.

Mr. Irving told reporters after the hearing that he is waiting to see what evidence the Justice Department will have. He declined to comment on whether Mr. De Oliveira has been asked to testify against Mr. Trump.

Mr De Oliveira's court appearance came as the former president faces the possibility of new charges from investigations into his efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

While he remains the front-runner for the GOP primary, he has been informed that he is the subject of an investigation by special counsel Jack Smith into efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election, and his lawyers met last week with the Smith prosecutor's team. Also, a Georgia prosecutor is expected to seek a grand jury indictment in the coming weeks as part of her investigation into efforts by Mr. Trump and his allies to overturn his election loss in that state.

Former President Trump, who pleaded not guilty in June, has denied any wrongdoing. He wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that the Mar-a-Lago security footage was voluntarily turned over to investigators and that he was told it had not been deleted in any way.

Prosecutors have not said the footage was deleted or withheld from prosecutors.

Mr. Nauta also pleaded not guilty. Judge Aileen Cannon had set a May date for the trial of Mr. Trump and Mr. Nauta, but it is not yet clear whether the addition of Mr. De Oliveira to the case could affect the timelines.

The latest indictment, unsealed Thursday, alleges former President Trump tried to delete security camera footage after investigators visited the facility in June 2022 to collect classified documents the former president took with him after leaving the House of Representatives. White.

Mr. Trump already faces dozens of charges — including willful withholding of national defense information — stemming from allegations that he misused the government secrets he was entrusted to protect as commander-in-chief. Experts have said that the new charges strengthen the file created by the special prosecutor and deepen the legal risk against the former president.

The video from Mar-a-Lago would be vital to the investigative file because, prosecutors said, it shows Mr. Nauta moving boxes in and out of a warehouse — an action allegedly done at Mr. Trump's direction and in an effort to hid the data not only from the investigators, but also from his own lawyers.

Days after the Justice Department sent the Trump Organization a June 2022 subpoena for Mar-a-Lago footage, prosecutors say Mr. De Oliveira asked an information technology employee how long the server kept the footage and told the employee that the "boss" wanted them to hide. When the employee said he didn't believe he could do it, Mr De Oliveira insisted the "boss" wanted it done, asking: "How are we going to do it?".

Shortly after the FBI searched the Mar-a-Lago and found classified records in a storage room and in Mr. Trump's office, prosecutors said that Mr. Nauta called an employee and talked about how "somebody just wants to make sure that Carlos is OK". The indictment says the employee responded that Mr. De Oliveira was loyal and would not do anything that would affect his relationship with Mr. Trump. That day, the indictment alleges, Mr. Trump called Mr. De Oliveira directly to say he would get him a lawyer.

Prosecutors allege that Mr. De Oliveira later lied during questioning by investigators, saying he never even saw the boxes being moved to Mar-a-Lago after former President Trump left the White House./ VOA