FLORIDA, USA – In a new round of charges that could deepen former US President Donald J Trump’s legal woes, federal prosecutors on Thursday, July 27, 2023 expanded an indictment, alleging Trump mishandled classified documents and induced the deletion of security camera footage at his Florida residence after he left office.
The fresh accusations were unveiled in a superseding indictment that also named the property manager of Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club and residence, Carlos De Oliveira, as a co-defendant.
De Oliveira is slated to appear in a Miami court on Monday.
Trump initially faced charges last month in the Southern District of Florida, under accusations of violating the Espionage Act.
Prosecutors alleged that Trump illegally held onto 31 classified documents containing national defense information following his term.
Moreover, Trump and his aide, Walt Nauta, were accused of conspiring to obstruct governmental attempts to retrieve the classified materials.
Thursday’s revised indictment brought three more severe charges against Trump. The former president stands accused of trying to “alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal evidence”; inducing another person to do so; and revealing a classified national security document to visitors at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., in violation of the Espionage Act.
“Mr Trump’s increasing legal challenges serve as a stark reminder that this investigation into his handling of classified documents remains ongoing, with the potential for further evidence, new counts, and even additional defendants,” said Jane Emerson, a former federal prosecutor not involved in the case.
Concerns about De Oliveira’s communications with Mar-a-Lago’s information technology expert, Yuscil Taveras, who oversaw surveillance footage at the property, prompted a months-long investigation by prosecutors under the office of special counsel, Jack Smith.
The security footage in question is pivotal to Smith’s investigation into whether Nauta moved boxes in and out of a Mar-a-Lago storage room, at Trump’s behest, to circumvent a federal subpoena for all classified documents in Trump’s possession.
The indictment details an alleged incident in late June last year, where shortly after the government demanded the surveillance footage, Trump and De Oliveira engaged in a 24-minute phone call.
Two days following this call, De Oliveira and Nauta were allegedly seen scrutinizing the surveillance cameras.
De Oliveira is also charged with lying to federal investigators about his knowledge of the boxes of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
According to the indictment, he was present and assisted in moving these boxes.
“Carlos is good,” the indictment quoted Nauta as assuring another Trump employee, indicating concerns over De Oliveira’s loyalty.
In response to the new allegations, the Trump campaign issued a statement dismissing the accusations as a “desperate and flailing attempt” by the Justice Department to undercut Trump, the current front-runner for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential race.
The ex-president and Nauta have both pleaded not guilty to the original charges, with their case scheduled for trial in May.
The indictment also highlights Trump’s display of a classified document, a battle plan for attacking Iran, to collaborators helping his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows write a book.
Trump’s possession of the document spans from Jan. 20, 2021, through Jan. 17, 2022, suggesting the prosecutors have the document at hand.
“There was no document,” Trump recently told Fox News host Bret Baier, denying the allegations.
As legal pressures mount, the original indictment by Smith’s team from June is following a string of over 30 felony charges filed against Trump connected to a hush-money payment made to a porn star before the 2016 election.
Trump remains under scrutiny by multiple authorities for potential election interference and actions leading to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol assault by pro-Trump supporters.
