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| Trump valet arraignment in classified documents case delayed to July | Trump valet arraignment in classified documents case delayed to July |
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| The valet, Walt Nauta, could not be arraigned after he was unable to find a Florida attorney and could not make it to court | The valet, Walt Nauta, could not be arraigned after he was unable to find a Florida attorney and could not make it to court |
| Donald Trump’s valet charged in the classified documents case will not be arraigned until early July, a magistrate judge said on Tuesday, after Walt Nauta was unable to find an attorney admitted to the Florida bar and he was unable to appear in court because of repeated flight cancellations. | Donald Trump’s valet charged in the classified documents case will not be arraigned until early July, a magistrate judge said on Tuesday, after Walt Nauta was unable to find an attorney admitted to the Florida bar and he was unable to appear in court because of repeated flight cancellations. |
| Nauta was scheduled to be arraigned at federal district court in Miami on Tuesday morning after he previously could not be arraigned at the same time as Trump because he did not have a Florida-licensed lawyer at that time either. | Nauta was scheduled to be arraigned at federal district court in Miami on Tuesday morning after he previously could not be arraigned at the same time as Trump because he did not have a Florida-licensed lawyer at that time either. |
| Nauta was not required to be at the expected arraignment in person, but his lead counsel Stanley Woodward had wanted him to meet the local counsel based in Florida before they formally retained someone from a shortlist of potential lawyers willing to represent him in the case. | Nauta was not required to be at the expected arraignment in person, but his lead counsel Stanley Woodward had wanted him to meet the local counsel based in Florida before they formally retained someone from a shortlist of potential lawyers willing to represent him in the case. |
| The valet was booked to travel down from New Jersey to Florida the day before the expected arraignment until stormy weather in the New Jersey area led to flight cancellations, according to two people familiar with the matter. | The valet was booked to travel down from New Jersey to Florida the day before the expected arraignment until stormy weather in the New Jersey area led to flight cancellations, according to two people familiar with the matter. |
| Woodward entered the courthouse in Miami alone on Tuesday morning and asked the US magistrate judge Edwin Torres, who was expected to preside, to postpone the arraignment. Torres rescheduled Nauta’s arraignment to next take place on 6 July. | |
| The extended delay in getting Nauta arraigned will probably not push back the pre-trial timetable for Trump, legal experts said, since Nauta has not been charged with violating national security laws and the complicated process governing classified information at trial would not apply to him. | The extended delay in getting Nauta arraigned will probably not push back the pre-trial timetable for Trump, legal experts said, since Nauta has not been charged with violating national security laws and the complicated process governing classified information at trial would not apply to him. |
| Nauta was charged by federal prosecutors earlier this month after he helped Trump remove boxes out of a storage room at the Mar-a-Lago club before Trump’s lawyer could search them for classified documents demanded by a grand jury subpoena, according to the indictment.The steps Trump took to have those boxes removed from the storage room, an episode now at the heart of the obstruction charge, caused Trump’s lawyer Evan Corcoran to certify a false certification to the justice department confirming that no further documents were at the property, the indictment said. | Nauta was charged by federal prosecutors earlier this month after he helped Trump remove boxes out of a storage room at the Mar-a-Lago club before Trump’s lawyer could search them for classified documents demanded by a grand jury subpoena, according to the indictment.The steps Trump took to have those boxes removed from the storage room, an episode now at the heart of the obstruction charge, caused Trump’s lawyer Evan Corcoran to certify a false certification to the justice department confirming that no further documents were at the property, the indictment said. |
| Separately, according to the indictment, Nauta lied to the FBI when he allegedly said he was unaware about how boxes of classified documents were taken to Trump’s residence before Trump agreed to return 15 boxes to the National Archives in January 2022. | Separately, according to the indictment, Nauta lied to the FBI when he allegedly said he was unaware about how boxes of classified documents were taken to Trump’s residence before Trump agreed to return 15 boxes to the National Archives in January 2022. |
| “When asked whether he knew where Trump’s boxes had been stored, before they were in Trump’s residence and whether they had been in a secure or locked location, Nauta falsely responded, ‘I wish, I wish I could tell you. I don’t know. I don’t – I honestly just don’t know,’” the indictment said. | “When asked whether he knew where Trump’s boxes had been stored, before they were in Trump’s residence and whether they had been in a secure or locked location, Nauta falsely responded, ‘I wish, I wish I could tell you. I don’t know. I don’t – I honestly just don’t know,’” the indictment said. |
| The indictment alleged Nauta lied to the FBI because he and another Trump employee at Mar-a-Lago moved the boxes. | The indictment alleged Nauta lied to the FBI because he and another Trump employee at Mar-a-Lago moved the boxes. |
| “Nauta did in fact know that the boxes in Pine Hall had come from the storage room, as Nauta himself, with the assistance of Trump Employee 2, had moved the boxes from the storage room to Pine Hall; and Nauta had observed the boxes in and moved them to various locations,” it said. | “Nauta did in fact know that the boxes in Pine Hall had come from the storage room, as Nauta himself, with the assistance of Trump Employee 2, had moved the boxes from the storage room to Pine Hall; and Nauta had observed the boxes in and moved them to various locations,” it said. |