Trump manager appears at court in classified documents case

Carlos De Oliveira, the property manager at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, made his first appearance in federal court Monday for charges related to the classified documents case against the Republican politician.

De Oliveira, who has not found a Florida-based attorney to represent him, did not enter a plea.

He was added to the indictment against Trump and valet Walt Nauta last week in what is known as a superseding indictment, indicating that the government's case against Trump is widening.

De Oliveira's appearance is tied to one of several federal cases against Trump, this one accusing him of plotting to illegally retain top-secret classified documents at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, as well as to block government efforts to retrieve them. In the documents case alone, the former president faces 37 criminal counts.

US Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres read De Oliveira the charges against him, and ordered him to hand over his passport, not speak to the other defendants in the case, and sign an agreement to pay $100,000 should he fail to appear in court for his arraignment, which is scheduled for August 10.

De Oliveira faces charges including conspiracy to obstruct justice and lying to investigators.

Trump has already appeared before a Miami magistrate judge, pleading not guilty in the case brought by Department of Justice-appointed special counsel Jack Smith.

Government case against De Oliveira could prove Trump criminal intent

At issue are recent revelations that Trump reportedly asked De Oliveira to destroy potentially compromising surveillance video related to the retention and hiding of thousands of classified documents pertaining to a number of top-secret national security matters.

Presidents are strictly forbidden from retaining any documents — even personal — when they leave office. At that time they are legally required to be turned over to the National Archives.

Trump — whom the National Archives and federal investigators say unlawfully retained records, lied about possessing them and misled government agencies charged with retrieving them — has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

In this latest twist, the former president and current favorite to win the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election, says the Mar-a-Lago security tapes were voluntarily handed over to investigators.

Trump claimed the tapes were not "deleted in any way, shape or form" on his Truth Social platform last week. Federal prosecutors have not claimed the tapes were destroyed. However, if able to prove Trump sought to destroy them it could bolster government prosecutors' case by showing criminal intent.

In June 2022, De Oliveira reportedly told another Mar-a-Lago employee that "the boss" wanted security videos deleted after the federal government subpoenaed them. He is also accused of lying to investigators about his role in moving boxes of documents on the property.

US District Judge Aileen Cannon had previously scheduled the trial of Trump and Nauta for next May. It is unclear whether the addition of De Oliveira will affect that timeline. Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty.

Trump's legal defense chewing through tens of millions of dollars

Trump's refusal to hand over documents after repeated requests led FBI investigators to raid Mar-a-Lago in August 2022, at which time they found more than 300 top-secret documents in a trove of roughly 11,000 government papers stored in insecure spaces such as bathrooms and a ballroom.

Monday's news comes as Trump faces possible charges in another federal investigation into his efforts to undermine the vote in the state of Georgia in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election.

Last week, Trump's lawyers met with special counsel Smith's team to discuss a grand jury investigation into whether the former president will be charged for seeking to overturn election results in the southern state. Fulton Country District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to announce whether Trump or anyone else will be charged in the matter in August.

US media reports suggest that Trump's political action committee has spent nearly $40 million (€36.3 million) on legal fees to defend him and associates in the face of numerous criminal charges so far in 2023.

In April, Trump became the first US president ever to be charged with a federal crime in a case before the Manhattan District Court in New York, focused on falsifying financial records to cover up hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Source: DW