Trump’s most loyal aide Walt Nauta arrives in court to plead guilty in the classified documents investigation, hours after new evidence revealed he was caught on camera moving boxes BEFORE the Mar-a-Lago raid
- The Justice Department obtained surveillance video of a witness moving boxes at Mar-a-Lago
- Nauta did not plead guilty when he appeared alongside Trump last month
Donald Trump aide and former “body man” Walt Nauta returned to a Miami courthouse Thursday, weeks after his boss pleaded not guilty to charges of willful possession of national security documents.
The appearance follows a judge’s decision Wednesday to release previously redacted portions of the warrant investigators obtained to search Mar-a-Lago for classified materials.
It included potentially damaging evidence against the former president’s loyal aide.
Nauta is charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice amid the investigation of classified government documents on Trump. His appearance comes as the extent of the government’s evidence against him and the former president is still coming to light. Dozens of witnesses have testified and the feds have obtained surveillance photos and video inside Mar-a-Lago to bolster their case.
The newly revealed material identified a person as ‘Witness 5’, believed to be Nauta, moving boxes of material around the president’s private club. He cites ‘South Tunnel Liquor’ camera footage to reveal how the witness moved boxes in and out of storage over a period of days before the FBI’s June 2022 search of the club.
Walt Nauta, personal assistant to former US President Donald Trump, and his DC attorney Stanley Woodward arrive at the James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building in Miami, Florida, USA, on July 6, 2023. He did not plead guilty. when she appeared alongside Trump last month
Nauta could be seen sporting sunglasses as he entered the Miami courthouse on Thursday, accompanied by his Washington, DC attorney, Stanley Woodward.
Nauta sat on the same bench as the former president in court during Trump’s June arraignment in Miami. In an apparent sign of his enduring bond, Nauta traveled with Trump to the hearing and flew with him to Bedminster, New Jersey, while he visited the famed Miami Cuban Versailles restaurant.
Nauta did not enter his own guilty plea on June 13 because he had not yet obtained a Florida attorney who could represent him there.
It has not retained Florida attorney Sasha Dadan, 34, the messenger informed. His attorney lists cases the former public defender has handled ranging from DUI to child custody cases.
His appearance comes amid intense scrutiny of the case, amid reports that Trump-related entities are footing Nauta’s legal bills.
Nauta Continues to Work for Trump as the Two Fight Federal Criminal Charges
Nauta flew to Bedminster, New Jersey with Trump following Trump’s June 13 arraignment.
He can be seen moving boxes of material in a surveillance video reference in an FBI affidavit.
Nauta is a close collaborator of the former president
An FBI affidavit used to justify the search describes how Nauta was seen carrying three boxes on May 24. Then, on May 30, after the deputy has spoken with agents about the locations of the boxes, he is seen removing 50 bankers’ boxes from a storage room. On June 1, he can be seen loading 11 boxes from the warehouse, then moved 25-30 boxes on June 1.
The affidavit does not mention Nauta by name, but the dates of the actions, as well as an FBI interview “during which the location of the boxes was a significant subject of questioning,” align with the dates cited in the affidavit. accusation.
