The new indictment against Donald Trump brings up a new actor in the alleged conspiracy to conceal classified information: former clerk and Mar-a-Lago chief of maintenance Carlos de Oliveira.
But unlike many of the eclectic characters that surround the president at his Palm Beach private club, almost nothing was known about him until last night when the Justice Department charged him.
Oliveira, 56, is a golfer who lives in an apartment in Palm Beach Gardens. A source told DailyMail.com that he owned a construction company with his ex-wife and went through a bankruptcy that has since been resolved.
He is now accused of collaborating with the former president to obstruct the investigation of classified documents by taking down the Mar-a-Lago server and erasing the surveillance videos.
Former President Donald Trump’s legal exposure increased Thursday as prosecutors issued a replacement indictment now bringing in his chief of maintenance at Mar-a-Lago, Carlos De Oliveira
Oliveira is also the culprit who supposedly flooded the server room by draining the pool.
The superseding indictment identifies two phone calls Trump had with his private club’s maintenance chief — and says he met alleged conspirator and Trump associate Walt Nauta in the “bushes” on an adjacent property to get a directive from “the boss.” discuss to erase a server with security images.
That accusation could take the charges of obstruction that Trump already faced in a 32-count indictment to a new level.
A Trump aide quoted in the indictment describes De Oliveira as “loyal” and a neighbor said he was “not a crook.”
His text messages are casual and he seems to do well with the tasks at hand – including keeping his mouth shut when asked.
In June, he texted “Employee 4” from Mar-a-Lago, asking the first question, “Hey buddy, how are you?” He relayed a message from Nauta, but kept the details off line. “I think he needs you for something,” he wrote.
“THE OLIVERIA asked Trump Associate 5 not to tell anyone that NAUTA was coming down because NAUTA wanted the trip to remain a secret,” the indictment reads.
Walt Nauta, who served as Trump’s military valet in the White House, has already been charged with conspiracy. He and Trump have pleaded not guilty
Much of the alleged conduct after Trump had already received a subpoena requesting the return of documents held at Mar-a-Lago
On June 25, it says, the couple went to the security booth where surveillance videos are shown.
He told that same employee 4, the head of IT at the club, that the conversation should stay between the two of them, saying “the boss” wanted the server removed, according to the indictment – which added new obstruction counts and identified De Oliveira as involved at the scheme.
His time as a clerk, apparently from the post-presidency period, brought him into close contact with Trump. The indictment lists two phone calls with Trump, during which time prosecutors say Trump lied to his lawyers and hid classified documents after receiving a subpoena for security footage at his club.
One call was for 24 minutes on June 23, another was for three and a half minutes on June 27.
Palm Beach affiliate WPTW tracked down some neighbors, who said he played golf and mostly kept it to himself.
“I can’t even think of how he could be involved,” neighbor Raymond Brion told the station. “I can’t even imagine what they have on him. I mean, he’s not a crook.’
The indictment says that Trump, Nauta and De Oliveira “knowingly combined, colluded, confederated and agreed with each other … to engage in deceptive conduct against another person and corruptly persuade another person to to hold a record.
Nauta joined Trump after serving as his military valet while Trump was president.
They are charged with conspiracy “to preserve classified documents (Trump) that he had taken from the White House and conceal and hide them from a federal grand jury.”
Nauta and Trump have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
As a figure prosecutors say had direct access to boxes of material and digital and personal communications leading all the way to the “boss,” De Oliveira could be the kind of person the prosecution would want to use as a witness at trial . .
However, the indictment details the time prosecutors say he lied during a January 2023 interview when he was asked direct questions about his role in unloading boxes at Mar-a-Lago.
He said he “never saw anything” when boxes were delivered to Mar-a-Lago.
But according to the FBI, he did know because he “personally observed and assisted TRUMP’s boxes when they arrived at The Mar-a-Lago Club in January 2021.”
He is his represented by a Virginia-based attorney who has done work for a Trump PAC, to the tune of $200,000. The lawyer did not respond to a request for comment, and DailyMail.com left a message on a number associated with De Oliveira.
That representation itself may have a direct connection to Trump. The indictment says that on August 26, 2022, Nauta called “Employee 5” to say that “someone just wants to make sure Carlos is good,” while stating that he was “loyal.”
This came two weeks after the FBI discovered material marked as classified in Mar-a-Lago storage space.
Nauta then told something similar to a PAC rep in a signal chat. Trump called De Oliveira that same day and told him that “TRUMP would provide DE OLIVEIRA with a lawyer,” the indictment said.
One thing that wasn’t readily available in the hours following the stunning replacement charge is a photo of him. That will likely change at 10:30 a.m. Monday, when he is due to appear in federal court in Miami.