A man who worked as an IT director at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort has reportedly turned, retracting previous testimony and implicating Trump in his case with classified documents.
Yuscil Taveras, previously identified as “Trump Employee 4,” appears to have changed his narrative after choosing to replace Stanley Woodward, an attorney funded by Trump’s Save America PAC.
In June, Taveras was told he was the subject of a perjury investigation and was offered a federal public defender position.
According to the same court filings, it appears that this change may have led to Taveras working with Special Counsel Jack Smith and testifying against Trump, former aide and White House clerk Walt Nauta, and Mar-a-Lago chief of maintenance. Carlos de Oliveira. case alleging misuse of classified documents.
“Immediately after getting new counsel, Trump Employee 4 retracted his previous false testimony and provided information implicating Nauta, (Carlos) De Oliveira and Trump in attempts to remove security camera footage, as outlined in the superseding indictment. ‘
Yuscil Taveras, previously identified as “Trump Employee 4,” appears to have changed his story and is set to testify against the former president. Pictured: Donald Trump in a courtroom in Manhattan in April
Nauta and de Oliveira face eight and four charges in the June indictment in which former President Trump brought 37 charges of holding government documents under the Espionage Act.
The former president and current Republican frontrunner was indicted in June on 37 charges related to violations of the Espionage Act, deliberately withholding classified documents and refusing to return them to the federal government.
Nauta, a Trump aide and White House clerk, is also charged with conspiracy to obstruct an FBI and grand jury investigation. Nauta has pleaded not guilty, as has the former president.
Trump has denied the allegations as he now faces four separate criminal charges.
The recent filing continues that the federal government “provisions to call Trump Employee 4 as a witness to the trial and expects him to testify in execution of alleged acts in the superseded indictment related to attempts to remove security footage.”
“Trump Employee 4 will most likely face cross-examination over his earlier inconsistent statements in his grand jury testimony, which took place while Mr. it added.
The indictment filed by Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office in July references Mar-a-Lago’s head of IT, “Employee 4,” questioning whether he had “the right” to wipe security servers.
The indictment says De Oliveira questioned employee 4 — since revealed to be Taveras — in a club audio closet, saying that “the boss” wanted the server “deleted” — in a likely reference to Trump, who made personal phone calls had with De Oliveira.
“Trump Associate 4 responded that he wouldn’t know how to do that, and that he didn’t believe he would have the rights to do so,” the indictment reads.
Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed 37 charges against Trump over his handling of classified documents
According to those same court documents, it appears that this change has led Taveras to change his tone with Trump, former aide and White House clerk Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago Chief of Maintenance Carlos de Oliveira
The filing continues that the federal government “provisions to call Trump employee 4 as a trial witness and expects him to testify about the alleged acts in the superseded indictment related to attempts to remove security footage”
De Oliveira has been with the Palm Beach club for ten years and was promoted to chief of maintenance last year.
His attorney, John Irving, called it “unfortunate” that the Justice Department had charged his client and said it was time for prosecutors to “put their money where their mouths are”.
A substitute indictment filed by prosecutors last week charged him with conspiracy to remove security footage from boxes of documents in Mar-a-Lago after a grand jury subpoena sought their return.
The indictment is quoted as saying he communicated with another club employee about the security footage, telling him that ‘the boss’ wants it removed.
It also says he lied when he denied government officials ever moved boxes at the club or had knowledge of them.
Carlos De Oliveira, 56, (center) is flanked by his lawyer and security as he leaves federal court on July 31
Walt Nauta, a former Trump aide and White House clerk, has also been charged in the investigation. He pleaded not guilty, as did President Trump and De Oliveira
“Never saw anything,” he is quoted as saying.
His landlord, Tiberio Almeida, said he moved from Portugal to Massachusetts more than 30 years ago and then moved to Florida. His promotion came after impressing his boss by redoing ornate metalwork on club doors The Washington Post.
De Oliveira, Trump and Nauta face charges including conspiracy to obstruct justice in the case stemming from classified government documents found at Mar-a-Lago after Trump’s presidency ended in 2021.
De Oliveira is also accused of lying to investigators. Prosecutors allege he falsely claimed he didn’t even see boxes move into Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House.