An aide to Donald Trump was charged Friday in a surprise development one day after the former U.S. president was indicted in the Mar-a-Lago documents case.
Trump said on his Truth Social platform that his former military valet, Walt Nauta, had been charged in the case. Nauta went to work at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort after working in the Trump White House. It was unclear what his charges were.
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In a report in The Guardian newspaper, Stanley Woodward was identified as Nauta's lawyer.
A spokesperson for special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, could not be reached immediately.
Nauta has been under scrutiny over his accounts of whether he moved boxes of documents at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in South Florida, according to NBC News.
Nauta was seen on surveillance footage moving boxes from a storage room before and after investigators issued a May subpoena for reuturn of all government documents in Trump’s possession. He told investigators that he did so at Trump’s request.
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Woodward reportedly claimed in court papers that a top federal prosecutor brought up his application for a judgeship while trying to gain the valet's cooperation in the Mar-a-Lago documents case.
The Guardian said Woodward's claim was made in a letter filed under seal with the chief federal judge in Washington.
The newspaper claimed that Jay Bratt, chief of counterintelligence for the Justice department, brought up the judgeship during a November meeting with Woodward. At the time, prosecutors wanted to convince Nauta to cooperate with the government against Trump, the letter reportedly said.
Prosecutors had reportedly warned the lawyer that Nauta should cooperate and was at risk of a false statement charge because of conflicting testimony.
Nauta "served proudly with me in the White House, retired as Senior Chief, and then transitioned into private life as a personal aide," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump faces seven criminal counts related to his treatment of sensitive government materials he took with him when he left the White House in January 2021, according to a source familiar with the matter.
He is due to appear in the Florida court on Tuesday, a day before his 77th birthday.
Investigators seized roughly 13,000 documents from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, nearly a year ago. A total of 100 were marked as classified, even though one of Trump's lawyers had previously said all records with classified markings had been returned to the government.
“I an an innocent man!" Trump wrote in all caps on his Truth Social platform on Thursday after announcing he had been indicted.
Trump has previously said he declassified those documents while president, but his attorneys have declined to make that argument in court filings.
This report contains material from Reuters.
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