New Trump charges: Special counsel Jack Smith files additional charges in Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, records show
Jul 28, 2023, 05:29 IST
- Special Counsel Jack Smith charged a third defendant in the Trump classified documents case.
- Trump also faces two new charges of obstruction of justice and willful retention of classified documents.
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Special counsel Jack Smith charged a third person in the Trump classified documents case, and added two new charges against Trump, according to new court documents.
Maintenance worker Carlos De Oliveira, 56, was added to the indictment, court records show. De Oliveira joins former President Donald Trump and his aide, Walt Nauta, both of whom pleaded not guilty to the charges against them last month. De Oliveira was added to the obstruction conspiracy charged in the original indictment, prosecutors said.Trump and Nauta also now face two additional charges of obstruction of justice and willful retention of classified documents. Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 counts in the case last month."The superseding indictment also charges Trump, De Oliveira and Nauta with two new obstruction counts based on allegations that the defendants attempted to delete surveillance video footage at The Mar-a-Lago Club in summer 2022," a statement from Peter Carr, spokesperson for Jack Smith, said.De Oliveira helped Nauta move the boxes of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after the Department of Justice subpoenaed Trump to for the records last May, CNN reported.De Oliveira spoke with prosecutors earlier this year, according to the outlet, which previously reported that De Oliveira was captured on surveillance footage moving boxes of documents around Trump's Florida resort.The footage reportedly shows Nauta and De Oliveira moving boxes into a storage room which the Justice Department later said was likely used to conceal government records.The new court documents allege Trump, Nauta, and De Oliveira asked another staffer to delete the footage to prevent it from being provided to a federal grand jury.Representatives for Trump and De Oliveira did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. A spokesperson for Trump told The Associated Press that the additional charges are "nothing more than a continued desperate and flailing attempt" by the Biden administration "to harass President Trump and those around him."