Trump faces More new charges in connection with his post-presidency handling of classified documents.
Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a new federal indictment in the Southern District of Florida, alleges that Trump was part of a scheme to delete security video.
A newly charged defendant, the property manager at Mar-a-Lago, told another employee that “the boss” wanted the server deleted.
Carlos De Oliveira, a maintenance supervisor was charged Thursday. Court documents say De Oliveira denied that he was involved in moving boxes. He told the FBI (twice) he,
Never saw anything. Never saw anything.”
According to NBC News,
That conversation took place in late June 2022, just a few weeks before the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago, the indictment says. After the search, it alleges, Walt Nauta called another Trump employee and asked about De Oliveira. The unnamed Trump employee told Nauta that De Oliveira was loyal and would not do anything to affect his relationship with Trump, according to the indictment.
The superseding indictment claims that Nauta and De Oliveira met up at a security guard booth where security video was displayed on monitors and that De Oliveira later stepped into an audio closet with another employee and had a conversation that De Oliveira said should be kept between them.
De Oliveira asked the employee how long the server retained video, and the other employee indicated it was about 45 days, according to the indictment. De Oliveira said that “the boss” wanted the server deleted, but the employee responded that he did not believe he would have the right to do that and would need to speak with the supervisor of security, the indictment says.
According to the indictment, De Oliveira reiterated that “the boss” wanted the footage erased and asked,
What are we going to do?”
(Doesn’t this sound like bad dialogue from a 40s B-grade, gangster movie..?)
After the new indictment, Trump blasted the DOJ in an interview with Fox News,
It’s election interference at the highest level. They’re harassing my company, they’re harassing my family and by far, least importantly of all, they’re harassing me.”
Trump and Walt Nauta have pleaded not guilty, and a trial has been set for May.
The evidence in the original federal indictment against Trump was already strong, but the new charges reveal even more.
— Adam Schiff (@AdamSchiff) July 28, 2023
There are witnesses, surveillance footage, text messages and meetings focused on the plot to obstruct the investigation.
They all show such powerful… pic.twitter.com/1Msi49F5hv
(via NBC News)
