Special Counsel Jack Smith has hit former President Donald Trump with two new obstruction charges and another count of willful retention of national defense information in his investigation into the GOP frontrunner’s alleged mishandling of classified documents.
“Today, a superseding indictment was returned by a grand jury in the Southern District of Florida that adds one defendant and four charges to the prior indictment filed against Donald J. Trump and Waltine Nauta,” the Justice Department said in a statement Thursday, according to Fox News Digital. “The superseding indictment adds a new Count charging Trump with one additional count of willful retention of National Defense Information.”
“Carlos de Oliveira, 56, of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, has been added to the obstruction conspiracy charged in the original indictment,” the DOJ said. “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.”
“Finally, the superseding indictment also charges De Oliveira with false statements and representations in a voluntary interview with the FBI on Jan. 13, 2023,” the DOJ added. “De Oliveira has been summoned to appear at 10:30 a.m. on July 31, 2023, in Courtroom #5 at the James L. King Federal Courthouse in Miami.”
Trump, according to the indictment, instructed Carlos De Oliveira, Mar-a-Lago’s property manager, to delete surveillance video footage “to prevent the footage,” which showed “the movement of boxes” in and out of the building, “from being provided to a federal grand jury.”
The indictment alleges:
DE OLIVEIRA told Trump Employee 4 that “the boss” wanted the server deleted. Trump Employee 4 responded that he would not know how to do that, and that he did not believe that he would have the rights to do that. Trump Employee 4 told DE OLIVEIRA that DE OLIVEIRA would have to reach out to another employee who was a supervisor of security for TRUMP’s business organization. DE OLIVEIRA then insisted to TRUMP Employee 4 that “the boss” wanted the server deleted and asked, “what are we going to do?”
De Oliveira then allegedly met with Walt Nauta, a former White House valet, in the “bushes” at Mar-a-Lago after Nauta sent a text to someone to say “he would not be traveling with TRUMP”:
NAUTA provided inconsistent explanations to colleagues for his sudden travel to Florida. At 7: 14 p.m. on June 24, he texted one person that he would not be traveling with TRUMP the next day because he had a family emergency and used ”shushing” emojis; at 9:48 p.m. that night, he texted a Secret Service agent that he had to check on a family member in Florida; and after he arrived in Florida on June 25, he texted the same Secret Service agent that he was in Florida working.
“Months later, De Oliveira would drain the resort’s swimming pool, flooding a room where computer servers containing surveillance video logs were kept. …” the Daily Mail reports. “The property manager is charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice; altering, destroying or mutilating a document and making false statements.”
“This is nothing more than a continued desperate and flailing attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their Department of Justice to harass President Trump and those around him,” the Trump campaign said in a statement. “Deranged Jack Smith knows that they have no case and is casting about for any way to salvage their illegal witch hunt and to get someone other than Donald Trump to run against Crooked Joe Biden.”
Trump campaign statement:
“This is nothing more than a continued desperate and flailing attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their Department of Justice to harass President Trump and those around him.” pic.twitter.com/YwUkfXuP9B
— Sam Lisker (@slisker) July 27, 2023
The news comes as Trump was denying on Truth Social reports he was about to be indicted on charges related to Smith’s investigation into the former president’s alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
“My attorneys had a productive meeting with the DOJ this morning, explaining in detail that I did nothing wrong, was advised by many lawyers, and that an Indictment of me would only further destroy our Country,” Trump wrote on Thursday afternoon. “No indication of notice was given during the meeting — Do not trust the Fake News on anything!”
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