Former President Donald J. Trump is facing additional charges in an indictment accusing him of mishandling classified documents after leaving office. Federal prosecutors revealed new evidence that Trump instructed the property manager of his private club and residence, Mar-a-Lago, to delete security camera footage. The superseding indictment named the property manager, Carlos De Oliveira, as a new defendant in the case.
The original indictment, filed last month in the Southern District of Florida, accused Trump of violating the Espionage Act by unlawfully retaining 31 classified documents after his presidency. It also charged Trump and one of his personal aides, Walt Nauta, with conspiracy to obstruct the government’s attempts to reclaim the classified material.
The revised indictment added three serious charges against Trump: attempting to “alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal evidence”; inducing someone else to do so; and a new count under the Espionage Act related to a classified national security document that he showed to visitors at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
On the same day as the release of the updated indictment, Trump’s lawyers met with prosecutors in the office of the special counsel to discuss a target letter Trump received earlier this month. The target letter indicated that he might soon face an indictment related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Prosecutors had been investigating De Oliveira for months, concerned about his communications with an information technology expert at Mar-a-Lago who oversaw surveillance camera footage. The footage was crucial to the investigation into whether Nauta, at Trump’s request, had moved boxes of classified documents to evade a federal subpoena.
According to the revised indictment, Trump called De Oliveira shortly after the government demanded the surveillance footage, and the two men later observed the surveillance cameras together. De Oliveira then had a private conversation with the IT expert, in which he allegedly told him that “the boss” wanted the server holding the security footage deleted.
Two months later, when the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago and seized about 100 classified documents, concerns arose regarding De Oliveira’s loyalty. Trump called De Oliveira to reassure him and promised to provide him with a lawyer.
The new indictment also charges De Oliveira with lying to federal investigators about his involvement with the boxes of documents and provides specific dates indicating Trump’s possession of a classified document related to an attack plan against Iran. The indictment alleges that Trump showed the document to two individuals helping his former Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, write a book.
Trump and Nauta have both pleaded not guilty to the charges in the original indictment. The trial is scheduled for May. The release of the updated indictment serves as a reminder that the documents investigation is ongoing and could lead to additional evidence, charges, and defendants.
A statement attributed to the Trump campaign dismissed the new accusations as a desperate attempt by the Justice Department to undermine Trump’s position as the front-runner for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election.
In addition to the charges related to mishandling classified documents, Trump remains under investigation for his efforts to retain power after the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol. He is also being scrutinized for possible election interference by the district attorney’s office in Fulton County, Georgia.