A former Mar-a-Lago valet who used to ferry insider guests to the former president’s private club has come forward to speak publicly about his role in transporting bankers’ boxers filled with what turned out to be classified information.
Brian Butler, identified as ‘Trump Employee 5’ in Donald Trump’s Florida indictment, talked about moving the material in June 2022, shortly before he decided to leave Trump’s employment.
He is described in it as coordinating the activity with property manager Carlos De Oliviera and Trump aide Waltine ‘Walt’ Nauta in the superseding indictment filed last July after speaking with federal investigators before special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutors filed charges in the case.
“Those were the boxes that were in the indictment, the white banks’ boxes. That’s what I remember loading,’ Butler shared CNN in an on-camera interview.
Brian Butler, a longtime Mar-a-Lago employee, broke with Trump’s claim that prosecutors are on a ‘witch hunt.’ He spoke with federal investigators and has been identified as ‘Trump Employee 5’ in Jack Smith’s indictment of the former president
He described getting a message on June 3, 2022 from Nauta who wanted to borrow the Cadillac Escalade that was part of a car service fleet he operates to bring guests to the club.
He ended up helping transport boxes from Mar-a-Lago on a day when Trump and a lawyer met with DOJ officials at Mar-a-Lago amid the agency’s efforts to secure government material.
‘I left Mar-a-Lago. I texted him, “Hi, I’m on my way.” He followed me. He pulled out and came behind me. We got to the airport. I ended up loading all the luggage I had – and he had a lot of boxes,’ he said.
According to Butler, the three helped move the material along with the Trump family’s luggage to the airport in West Palm Beach on a day when Trump was making his seasonal pilgrimage to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Butler worked for Trump for two decades but now sounds disillusioned with the world he inhabited after speaking with federal investigators. He may be called to testify at the trial, which could begin this summer if Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon does not delay it amid legal wrangling over classified information.
Trump is accused of improperly possessing national security information that federal agents found at his Florida club
Butler talked about moving boxes of material from Mar-a-Lago to the airport. He said he did not know there was classified material
Longtime Trump personal assistant Walt Nauta is charged along with former president and club property manager Carlos De Oliveira
‘I felt it was a total no-win situation for me. I mean, they’re asking me questions about one of my best friends. I am honest. But I also have a bad feeling that what I’m saying is going to get him in trouble,’ Butler said, referring to Nauta, a longtime friend.
‘Nobody should have to go through that. And for him (Trump) to come up there all the time and say the things that he says about this being a witch hunt and all. … He just can’t take responsibility for anything,’ he said.
John Irving, an attorney for De Oliveira, weighed in on Butler’s potential testimony in a comment to the network. “We look forward to hearing more about Mr. Butler’s version of events when he is under oath and subject to perjury in the courtroom where it belongs, and we decline to try this case in the media,” he said.
‘Employee 5’ appears in the last paragraph of the superseding indictment, in a passage that could seek to establish efforts to influence a critical witness in the case.
According to the indictment, after the FBI discovered documents marked classified in the club’s storage room, on August 26, 2022, Nauta called Employee 5 and said, “someone just wants to make sure Carlos is good.” In response, Trump staffer 5 told Nauta that De Oliviera was loyal and that De Oliveira would not do anything to affect his relationship with Trump. That same day, at Nauta’s request, Trump staffer 5 confirmed in a Signal chat group with Nauta and (a PAC representative) that De Oliveira was loyal. That same day, Trump called De Oliveira and told De Oliveira that Trump would get De Oliveira a lawyer.’
Butler provided new details about the alleged conversation, which he said happened over the weekend with De Oliveira, a Trump loyalist who is indicted along with the former president, at a Florida casino with family.
‘You know he takes the call. We are in the food court. I think we went to sit down … But I know that at the end of the conversation, when they hung up, Carlos said, “He’s going to get me a lawyer.”