Court filings have revealed that Donald Trump’s valet, Walt Nauta, played a crucial role in the events leading up to the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago in 2022. Nauta testified to a grand jury about randomly choosing boxes of documents to be returned to the National Archives and that Trump directed that additional boxes located at the resort would not be returned. A second witness corroborated Nauta’s account, indicating that Trump gave the directive not to return any more boxes to the Archives. The newly unsealed filings shed light on how the FBI obtained information about the inner workings at Mar-a-Lago and the Trump White House that could be used in the trial.
In response to a criminal investigation into the mishandling of classified information, the Archives found alarming government records in the initial 15 boxes retrieved from Mar-a-Lago. Trump’s attorneys responded to a subpoena for classified documents by submitting an envelope of materials in June 2022, with a statement asserting a thorough search had been conducted. However, subsequent investigations and witness statements indicated that many more boxes of sensitive Trump White House records were present at the resort than previously disclosed. The FBI observed that boxes were randomly selected for return to the Archives, and Trump directed that additional boxes would not be returned.
Nauta, who eventually stopped cooperating with the special counsel, is now claiming that he was selectively and vindictively prosecuted because he refused to return to the grand jury for further testimony without certain conditions being met. Trump and Nauta are challenging the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith, with Nauta seeking to have evidence obtained from his phone and email accounts thrown out. Despite Nauta’s refusal to cooperate further, his grand jury testimony could still be used against Trump in a trial. Prosecutors may use Nauta’s statements about Trump in their case against the former president.
The FBI’s review of surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago showed that Nauta had moved more than 60 boxes from the storage room but only returned less than half of them before a Trump attorney reviewed them for classified material. Nauta’s new attorney, provided by Trump-world, has rejected prosecutors’ demands for further grand jury testimony, claiming that Nauta was not offered protection from charges. Nauta is also seeking to have evidence obtained from his phone and email accounts thrown out, arguing that the FBI misrepresented his statements to the grand jury in warrant affidavits.
Federal prosecutors have stated that they will continue to make updated versions of the Mar-a-Lago search documentation public as more disclosures are made in the criminal case. The details revealed in the court filings provide insight into the events leading up to the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago in 2022 and the role that Nauta played in the handling of classified documents. The case against Trump, Nauta, and another co-defendant, Carlos De Oliveira, is ongoing, with all three pleading not guilty to charges of criminal mishandling of national security records and obstruction of justice.
