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Trump faces additional charges in Mar-a-Lago documents case

New charges include obstruction and willful retention of national defense information.
Posted at 6:52 PM, Jul 27, 2023

Former President Donald Trump faces additional charges in his Florida classified documents case, in which prosecutors say he conspired to hide documents from government officials at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

Trump is newly charged with obstruction and willful retention of national defense information, according to a court filing on Thursday.

A third individual, identified in court documents as Carlos De Oliveira, was also charged Thursday as a defendant in the case, alongside Trump and his personal aide Walt Nauta.

De Oliviera is charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice; altering, destroying, mutilating or concealing an object; corruptly altering, destroying, mutilating or concealing a document, record or other object; and false statements or representations.

Click here to read the full superseding indictment.

In the indictment, prosecutors allege De Oliviera held discussions with another Trump employee, saying that "the boss" wanted stored archives of surveillance footage to be deleted.

The indictment states that "Trump, Nauta and De Oliviera requested that Trump Employee 4 delete security camera footage at the Mar-a-Lago Club to prevent the footage from being provided to a federal grand jury." 

According to the indictment, De Oliviera was employed as a property manager for Mar-a-Lago beginning in January of 2022. Before that, he worked at the club as a valet.

The superseding indictment adds to Trump's existing charges of 37 counts pertaining to the mishandling of classified documents.

Trump's trial for classified documents case set for May 2024

Trump's trial for classified documents case set for May 2024

This trial was initially scheduled to start in August.

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Trump and Nauta have both pleaded not guilty to the original charges.

Earlier this month a federal judge in Florida set a start date for the case of May 20, 2024.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon set the date as a compromise. The Prosecution wanted to set the trial in December and the defense wanted to postpone it until after the 2024 presidential election.