Trump maintenance manager charged with seeking to delete Mar-a-Lago security footage delays plea

A technicality left former President Donald Trump’s newest co-defendant unable to enter a plea deal Monday for his alleged connection to Mar-a-Lago security footage.

Carlos De Oliveira, the property manager of the president’s resort and West Palm Beach, Florida residence, appeared in a Miami court Monday only to have his arraignment rescheduled. However, the 56-year-old head of maintenance, who had been added to Trump’s indictment Thursday, did have four charges read to him by Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres.

Speaking with the press, De Oliveira’s Washington, D.C.-based attorney John Irving explained that his client had been unable to secure a Florida-based legal representative yet, “We’re working on that. Should have it done fairly soon, I hope.”

That being the case, Torres reportedly agreed to delay the arraignment after setting the property manager’s signature bond at $100,000 (requiring no payment up front) and reading his charges said to include conspiracy, lying to investigators and “corruptly altering, destroying, mutilating, or concealing a document, record or other object.”

The defense had requested to have their client released on his own recognizance.

De Oliveira is now expected to appear in Fort Pierce, Florida on Aug. 10 to be arraigned and, as the schedule is currently listed, presiding should be Magistrate Judge Shaniek Mills Maynard.

Last week, it was reported that Special Counsel Jack Smith, the prosecutor responsible for indicting Trump in the classified documents investigation, had not only added obstruction charges for the president but had named De Oliveira as a co-defendant along with the already listed aide Walt Nauta.

According to the filing, weeks after FBI agents had visited Mar-a-Lago, De Oliveira and Nauta “went to the security guard booth where surveillance video is displayed on monitors, walked with a flashlight through the tunnel where the storage room was located, and pointed out surveillance cameras.”

Days later, the manager was said to have had a conversation with the IT director about how long the footage was stored. After being told 45 days, De Oliveira allegedly said, “that ‘the boss’ wanted the server deleted.”

Of the property manager, who had begun working at Mar-a-Lago over a decade earlier as a maintenance worker, advancing to his current position, Politico reported that prosecutor Jay Bratt sought “the same pre-trial conditions Trump faced, which bar him from discussing the case with others. Bratt told the judge he already provided the list of witnesses to the defense.”

Additional requirements for the co-defendant included the Portuguese-born immigrant to turn over his passport within 48 hours and to remain in the state of Florida unless authorized to leave.

Currently, the trial for Trump with Judge Aileen Cannon presiding is scheduled to begin on May 20, 2024, also from a federal court in Fort Pierce, Florida, roughly two hours north of Miami. Both the president and Nauta have already pled not guilty to the charges brought against them.

Kevin Haggerty

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