DOJ asks to dismiss case of 2 men indicted for allegedly helping Trump hide documents
Walt Nauta, an aide to President Trump, listens as Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office on Jan. 23, in Washington, D.C. Right: Carlos De Oliveira, center, property manager of former Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, leaves the U.S. Courthouse following his arraignment hearing on Aug. 15, 2023, in Fort Pierce, Fla.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty; Rebecca Blackwell/AP
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Anna Moneymaker/Getty; Rebecca Blackwell/AP
MIAMI — The U.S. Justice Department has asked a federal court to dismiss its case against Trump aide Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago employee Carlos de Oliveira in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.
The two men faced felony charges for allegedly helping then-former President Trump hide boxes of classified and top secret documents at Trump’s estate in Palm Beach, Fla., and then lying to federal investigators about it.
The new acting U.S. attorney in Miami submitted the dismissal request to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Trump was indicted on more than 30 felony counts, including withholding classified material and conspiring with Nauta and de Oliveira to conceal them from investigators.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case in July, ruling that special counsel Jack Smith had been improperly appointed. Federal prosecutors appealed, but removed Trump from the case after his election win in November.
Because Nauta and de Oliveira were still facing charges, Smith agreed to withhold releasing his report on the classified documents investigation. With the case concluded, the report could be released, but the Trump Administration is not expected to do so.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
