Donald Trump revealed that his trusted White House aide Wault Nauta has also been charged in the classified documents scandal, claiming prosecutors are trying to “destroy his life.”
Serving as the former president’s aide and golf partner, Nauta has remained by his side since he left office, while others have left.
The latest sensational development in the federal investigation into Trump came when two of the former president’s former top attorneys suddenly resigned Friday morning.
Nauta has been at the center of the Mar-a-Lago probe from the start. He moved boxes with a maintenance worker before the FBI executed their search warrant at the Palm Beach residence last August.
When the boxes were moved to storage, Trump’s lawyers contacted the Justice Department to say they were welcome to visit and search the property.
Donald Trump has said aide Wault Nauta (pictured left) has also been charged in the classified documents scandal
Serving as the former president’s aide and golf partner, Nauta has remained by his side since he left office, while others have left
Trump revealed the latest shocking development in a post on Truth Social on Friday: “I just learned that the Department of Injustice “Thugs” will indict a wonderful man, Walt Nauta, a member of the United States Navy, who proudly served with me in the White House, retired as Senior Chief, then moved into private life as a personal assistant.
‘He did a fantastic job! They try to destroy his life, like the lives of so many others, in the hope that he will say bad things about “Trump.” He is strong, courageous and a great patriot. The FBI and DOJ are CORRUPT!’
The specific charges against Nauta have not been disclosed. Nauta was Trump’s military valet while Trump was president and went to work for him after his presidency.
Investigators obtained surveillance footage showing Nauta and a Mar-a-Lago employee moving boxes of classified documents around the resort.
Nauta had spoken to federal officials repeatedly, first telling them that he had not handled any boxes or sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago. But once the surveillance footage was revealed, he changed his story.
He also switched lawyers and stopped cooperating with the investigation.
It is the second charge to emerge from the federal investigation and comes the day after it was revealed. Trump faces seven federal charges — including conspiracy, a violation of the espionage law and withholding classified documents — in relation to the documents he took with him after leaving the White House.
Just hours before Trump was indicted Thursday night, a story emerged that Nauta’s lawyers had accused the Justice Department of wrongdoing.
One of Nauta’s lawyers, Stanley Woodward, had applied to serve as a judge in Washington DC
Prosecutors brought that up during a meeting with the assistant’s legal team in what could be construed as coercion.
Jim Trusty, Trump’s lawyer who resigned Friday morning, said on CNN last night that bringing forward the judgeship was a plan to get Nauta to cooperate with prosecutors.
Trusty suggested they were criminal activities and deserved investigation.
Donald Trump has said aide Wault Nauta has also been charged in the classified documents scandal
Meanwhile, Trump was caught on a killer tape admitting he failed to classify classified military intelligence that he took from the White House to Mar-a-Lago and showed he had “stacks” of sensitive files.
In the recording obtained by CNN, released hours after his sensational indictment, the former president admitted in 2021 that he withheld “secret” military information about Iran from a meeting at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
He also boasted that he had “great stacks of papers” during conversations with two people working on ex-chief of staff Mark Meadows’ autobiography, saying at one point, “This is classified information. Look, look at this.’
It is the second potentially damning tape obtained in the investigation of classified documents into Trump that has led to seven federal indictments and a trial in Miami next Tuesday.
“As president, I could have declassified, but now I can’t,” Trump says, according to the transcript of the audio.
The recording shows that Trump understood that some of the documents he took to his Florida home remained secret. He had previously argued that the president can release anything he wants, and has used that as a defense when faced with questions about the sensitive files.
The audio recording was of Trump’s 2021 meeting at his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort with two people who worked on the autobiography of his former chief of staff Mark Meadows, as well as aides employed by the former president, including communications assistant Margo Martin.
The recording transcript suggests Trump shows the document to those in the room — though it’s unclear if it’s the Iran document.
‘Secret. This is classified information. Look, look at this,” Trump says at one point, according to the transcript. “This was done by the military and given to me.”
He continued, “Well, with Milley — uh, show me that, I’ll show you an example. He said I wanted to attack Iran. Is not that great? Got a big stack of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him.
“They presented this to me – this is off the record, but – they presented this to me. This was him. This was the Defense Department and him. We’ve looked at a few. This was him. This was not done by me, this was him.
He added. “All sorts of things – pages long, look. Wait a minute, let’s see here. I just found it, isn’t that great? This completely wins my case, you know. Except that it is, very confidential. Secret. This is classified information. Look, look at this.”
An FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August found a trove of classified documents (pictured)
Trump was at his golf club in Bedminister, New Jersey, Thursday night when his lawyers told him he was facing federal charges. He posted the news himself on his Truth Social account.
ABC News reported that the 76-year-old faces four separate counts, all of which carry a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years.
These include: conspiracy to obstruct justice; withholding any document or record; corruptly concealing any document or record; and hiding a document in a federal investigation.
One count carries a 10-year prison sentence: deliberately withholding national defense information.
And the last two counts each have a maximum of five years: plan to conceal and misrepresentations and misrepresentations. Trump’s indictment remains classified, but his decision to make it public means the FBI could open it as early as Friday, ahead of next Tuesday’s Miami court hearing.
The latest indictments mark another setback for the 2024 presidential candidate, who plans to retake control of the White House.
In the aftermath on Thursday night, Trump turned DJ and spun his favorite songs from Pavarotti to James Brown just 90 minutes after discovering he was facing the landmark federal indictment that could lead him to 100 years in prison.
After making a roaring statement on Truth Social where he declared “I AM AN INNOCENT MAN,” Trump seemed to calm his nerves by dining at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, before playing disc jockey all night.
Trump wore a Make America Great Again cap and pretended to be a DJ. New York Times.
It remains unclear what the immediate and long-term political consequences will be for the former leader.
His first indictment sparked millions of dollars in contributions from angry supporters and failed to damage Trump in the polls as the 2024 presidential race heats up.
The former president’s legal troubles extend beyond the New York indictment and classified documents case. The special prosecutor has a separate investigation into attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, while the Fulton County District Attorney in Georgia is investigating Trump over alleged attempts to undermine that state’s 2020 election .
Trump will appear in court on Tuesday at 3 p.m. in Miami, where the most recent charges against him will be filed. Security around the courthouse has already been increased before he appears in court.
He has already been charged in New York and faces additional investigations in Washington and Atlanta that could lead to criminal charges.