An unsealed Thursday night indictment against former President Donald Trump reveals how his property manager Mar-a-Lago met ‘in the bushes’ with the ex-president’s valet to discuss how to conceal the documents classified stored in the domain.
Carlos De Oliveira, 56, is accused of trying to get a security official at Mar-a-Lago to delete surveillance footage showing people moving boxes in and out of the building.
When those efforts failed, according to the indictment, De Oliveira met former White House valet Walt Nauta in the “bushes” on the outskirts of Mar-a-Lago.
Months later, De Oliveira would drain the resort’s swimming pool, flooding a room where computer servers containing CCTV logs were kept.
The indictment also claims that in the days following the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago last year, an unnamed Trump employee called De Oliveira ‘loyal’ to his employer and would do nothing. to affect his relationship with Trump.
The property manager is charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice; alter, destroy or mutilate a document and make false declarations.
An indictment accusing former President Donald Trump of keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate was unsealed Thursday night. He is pictured here last month
The FBI raided Mar-a-Lago last August and recovered the boxes of classified documents
He later also allegedly lied to officials that he “never saw anything,” although he moved some of the boxes himself, according to the Feds.
De Oliveira, Trump and former White House valet Walt Nauta now allegedly conspired to “engage in deceptive conduct” to “corruptly” persuade another person to withhold information.
The federal indictment claims that when the Justice Department announced that a grand jury was issuing a subpoena requesting video of Mar-a-Lago in June 2022, Nauta met with De Oliveira.
After the meeting, De Oliveira reportedly met a security employee at the compound and asked him how many days the server had kept security footage, to which the employee replied that he thought “it was about 45 days”.
De Oliveira then allegedly told the employee “‘the boss’ wanted the server removed'” and said that “the conversation should stay between the two of them”.
The unnamed security guard, however, said he “wouldn’t know how to do this and didn’t believe he would have the right to do this”.
In the aftermath, according to the indictment, De Oliveira twice encountered Nauta near “bushes” on the northern edge of Mar-a-Lago.
It’s unclear what the two may have discussed, but in October Nauta was accused of draining a swimming pool at the resort and deliberately flooding the room containing the surveillance video footage.
The indictment charges De Oliveira, Nauta and Trump with “altering, destroying, mutilating or concealing an object”.
It says the charge relates to the trio asking an employee to “delete footage from Mar-a-Lago Club’s security cameras to prevent the footage from being provided to a federal grand jury,” it says.
Special Counsel Jack Smith led the Justice Department’s investigation into classified documents found at Trump’s estate in Florida
Carlos De Oliveira, property manager at Mar-a-Lago, is accused of moving boxes containing classified White House documents to the South Florida estate
Asked about the boxes, according to the indictment, De Oliveira told FBI investigators he ‘never saw anything’
The indictment also states that Nauta had “personally observed and assisted in moving Trump’s boxes when they arrived at the Mar-a-Lago Club in January 2021.”
These boxes contained “information concerning the defense and armament capabilities of the United States and foreign countries; US nuclear programs; the potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for retaliation in response to a foreign attack,” according to the indictment.
In the days following the FBI raid, according to the indictment, Nauta called an unnamed Trump employee saying “someone just wants to make sure Carlos is okay,” referring to De Oliveira.
The employee reportedly replied that De Oliveira was “loyal” and would do nothing to affect his relationship with Trump.
He then said the same thing to a super PAC representative during a signal conversation.
On the same day, August 26, 2022, Trump reportedly called De Oliveira and informed him that he would be getting an attorney for the property manager.
He also claims that De Oliveira voluntarily met with the FBI in January 2023.
The FBI allegedly questioned the property manager about “the location and movement of Trump boxes and other items”, to which De Oliveira “knowingly and willfully made materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statements and representations”.
De Oliveira denied involvement in moving the boxes, according to the indictment, and told investigators he “never saw anything.”
Walt Nauta, valet to the former president, faces charges of conspiring to conceal classified information from the government
A statement released by Trump’s 2024 campaign said the charges are “nothing more than a desperate and agitated continuing attempt by the Biden Crime family and his Justice Department to harass President Trump and those who serve him.” surround”.
“Crooked Jack Smith knows they have no case and is looking for a way to salvage their illegal witch hunt and get someone other than Donald Trump to run against Crooked Joe Biden.”
Earlier this month, the Justice Department revealed CCTV footage from inside Mar-a-Lago showed dozens of boxes being ‘moved’ by a ‘witness’ – Walt Nauta – in the days before FBI and Justice Department investigators visited to collect tapes.
Court documents indicate that on May 30, 2022, after speaking with the FBI about the location of the boxes, Nauta was seen removing boxes from a room inside Mar-a-Lago.
Then on June 1, Nauta was seen carrying 11 cardboard boxes from the storage room and on June 2 he returned to 25-30 boxes, before leading Trump’s attorney into the room, where he remained for longer. two hours.
Nauta, who continues to work for Trump, has since faced charges of conspiring to conceal classified information from the government. He pleaded not guilty in federal court in Miami earlier this month.
