The special prosecutor prosecuting Donald Trump for holding classified documents filed a replacement indictment on Thursday, indicting a third person and detailing allegations that Trump sought to delete surveillance camera footage and wipe computer servers.
The 60-page document introduced charges against Mar-a-Lago chief of maintenance, Carlos de Oliveira.
De Oliveira is charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, concealing documents and lying to investigators, with the most serious charges serving a 20-year prison sentence.
He now stands on the indictment alongside Trump himself and his valet, Walt Nauta.
A replacement charge against former President Donald Trump for holding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate was unsealed Thursday night, with more details about how he and his valet Walt Nauta (left) allegedly worked to get surveillance camera footage. to delete
Carlos De Oliveira, a property manager at Mar-a-Lago, is accused of moving boxes of classified documents from the White House to the South Florida estate
At some point after the boxes of documents were moved and Oliveira talked about removing the surveillance camera footage, Nauta asked another employee to confirm that Oliveira was loyal.
Nauta said ‘someone wants to make sure Carlos is okay’.
Trump himself then called Oliveira and told him he would get him a lawyer.
Trump did not elaborate on the details of the allegations Thursday night, but said they were part of a plot to derail his 2024 election bid.
FBI LEARN ABOUT SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS
The National Archives began asking Trump to return the documents in May 2021.
In July 2021, Trump had some files with him at his Bedminster golf club: He spoke to authors of a biography of his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and bragged about one of the documents as he waved it around the room.
The book, which was released in December 2021, appears to refer to the meeting and document.
“The president recalls a four-page report typed by Mark Milley himself,” the book says, referring to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.
It contained the general’s own plan to attack Iran, which would involve deploying massive numbers of troops, something he urged President Trump on more than one occasion during his presidency. President Trump rejected those requests every time.”
During the taped meeting, Trump is heard using Iran’s “highly classified” attack plan to push back Milley’s public comments that Trump was trying to start a war.
In January 2022, 15 boxes of documents were turned over to the archives, and the archivists, noticing that they contained classified documents, alerted the FBI and the Justice Department.
In May 2022, Trump was subpoenaed to turn over the documents, and Nauta, at Trump’s request, began moving the boxes of documents to Trump’s private quarters at Mar-a-Lago, his Bedminster golf club, and a Mar-a-Lago . a-Lago salvage.
Trump’s lawyer searched the boxes in the storage unit and the next day, June 3, 2022, FBI agents were called to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve the documents.
While there, the FBI agents noticed, according to the indictment, that there were surveillance cameras outside the storage area.
On June 22, 2022, the Justice Department told Trump’s legal team that they planned to issue a subpoena for the footage.
The FBI raided Mar-a-Lago last August and recovered the boxes of classified documents, after obtaining the surveillance camera footage that showed the boxes being moved before an earlier FBI team arrived
On June 23, Trump — who was in Bedminster over the summer — called Oliveira, and the pair had a 24-minute conversation.
The next day the subpoena was issued by the Ministry of Justice for the images.
Trump was then in the middle of a hive of activity.
His lawyer emailed him about handing over the footage, and Trump summoned Nauta to see him.
After their meeting, Nauta changed his travel plans: he was supposed to go to Illinois with Trump, but flew to Florida instead.
THE ‘SHUSHING EMOJI’: NAUTA, OLIVEIRA AND TRUMP’S PLAN, WITH ‘FAMILY EMERGENCY’
Nauta arrived in Mar-a-Lago on June 25, 2022 – the day after the warrant for the CCTV footage was issued.
His visit was shrouded in secrecy.
Nauta gave inconsistent explanations to colleagues for his sudden trip to Florida.
At 7:14 p.m. on June 24, he texted a person that he would not be traveling with Trump the next day because he had a family emergency and used “soothing” emojis.
He told a Secret Service agent by text message to check on a relative; he told another that he was working.
Oliveira told a servant in Mar-a-Lago that Nauta would arrive, but told him not to tell anyone because it was a secret.
Walt Nauta, an aide to the former president, is charged with conspiracy to withhold classified information from the government
While preparing to travel, Nauta texted Mar-a-Lago’s IT director asking where he was.
Oliveira also contacted the IT director and said Nauta might get in touch as he may need help.
The IT director said he hosted friends from New York City but was available if needed.
As soon as Nauta arrived at Mar-a-Lago, he met Oliveira, and the two men walked the grounds.
“Nauta and De Oliveira went to the security booth where surveillance footage is shown on monitors, walked through the tunnel where the salvage was located with a flashlight, and pointed to surveillance cameras,” the lawsuit said.
IT DIRECTOR CANNOT OR WON’T REMOVE FOOTAGE
On June 27, 2022, Oliveira went to Mar-a-Lago’s IT director and asked him to leave a room where another person was present and go through a basement tunnel to an “audio closet” near the ballroom.
Oliveira told the IT director, according to the indictment, that their conversation should “stay between the two of them.”
Oliveira asked how long the servers kept CCTV footage, and the IT director said he thought it was 45 days.
Oliveira then told the IT director “that ‘the boss’ wanted to delete the server.”
The IT director replied that “he wouldn’t know how to do that, and he didn’t believe he would have the rights to do that,” adding that Oliveira would need to speak to the Trump Organization’s security oversight officer.
Oliveira then urged Trump Associate 4 that “the boss” wanted to take down the server, asking, “What are we going to do?”
When asked about the boxes, the indictment says, De Oliveira told FBI investigators he “never saw anything”
Nauta is seen leaving his arraignment in Miami on July 6
Oliveira contacted Nauta and the pair met at an obscure location: Oliveira walked “through the bushes on the northern edge of the Mar-a-Lago ground” for 20 minutes to meet Nauta at a ground next to the club.
Oliveira went back to the IT director’s room and then walked back through the bushes to where he had met Nauta.
At 3:55 p.m., Trump called Nauta and they spoke for three minutes.
Attempts to remove the footage were unsuccessful: the indictment states that the FBI and the Justice Department obtained the footage in July.
“SOMEONE JUST WANTS TO MAKE SURE CARLOS IS GOOD”
The FBI raided Mar-a-Lago on August 8, 2022 and retrieved the latest documents.
Two weeks later, on August 26, 2022, Nauta contacted a Mar-a-Lago employee and told him, “Someone wants to make sure Carlos is okay.”
The employee told Nauta that Oliveira was loyal.
Trump then called Oliveira and “told De Oliveira that Trump would get him a lawyer.”
CONSPIRACY BETWEEN THE THREE
The indictment also includes allegations that the three men collaborated to hide the boxes from the FBI, the Justice Department and Trump’s own lawyers.
Special Counsel Jack Smith leads Justice Department investigation into classified documents found at Trump’s Florida estate
The trio conspired to “move boxes of documents to hide them from Trump Attorney 1, the FBI and the grand jury.”
They suggested that Trump Attorney 1 “hide or destroy” some of the particularly damaging documents.
They made “false and misleading statements” to the FBI and grand jury, and attempted to erase security camera footage.
The indictment also contains excerpts of Nauta and Oliveira’s interview with investigators.
Nauta is asked if he knew how the boxes got into Trump’s private residence, and tells investigators he doesn’t know.
The indictment states ‘Nauta moved the boxes herself’.
Oliveira is asked if he never saw the boxes move to Mar-a-Lago, but according to the indictment, he “personally observed and helped with the files.”