Trump Valet Walt Nauta Pleads Not Guilty

Assistant is accused of moving boxes of classified documents
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 6, 2023 11:06 AM CDT
Trump Valet Walt Nauta Pleads Not Guilty
Walt Nauta, left, a valet to former President Donald Trump, arrives with defense attorney Stanley Woodward at the James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building for his arraignment, in Miami, Thursday, July 6, 2023.   (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Former President Trump's valet, Walt Nauta, pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that he helped Trump hide classified documents from federal authorities, appearing with a new Florida-based lawyer to represent him as the case moves forward. Nauta was charged alongside Trump in June in a 38-count indictment alleging the mishandling of classified documents. His arraignment was to have happened twice before, but he had struggled to retain a lawyer licensed in Florida and one appearance was postponed because of his travel troubles, per the AP.

Ahead of his arraignment, Nauta hired Sasha Dadan, a criminal defense attorney and former public defender whose main law office is in Fort Pierce, where the judge who would be handling the trial is based. She appeared in court with Nauta, alongside his Washington lawyer, Stanley Woodward, who entered the not guilty plea on his behalf. Nauta answered, "Yes, your honor," when he was asked whether he had reviewed the indictment during the brief court appearance. He and his lawyers exited the courthouse after the arraignment and entered a Mercedes-Benz sedan without answering questions from reporters.

Trump pleaded not guilty during his June 13 arraignment to charges including willful retention of national defense information. But Nauta's arraignment was postponed that day because of the lawyer situation and then was pushed back again last week when a flight from New Jersey he was to have taken was canceled. The indictment filed by special counsel Jack Smith and his team of prosecutors accuses Nauta of conspiring with Trump to conceal records that the former president had taken with him from the White House after his term ended in January 2021.

story continues below

Prosecutors allege that Nauta, at the former president's direction, moved boxes of documents bearing classification markings so they would not be found by a Trump lawyer who was tasked with searching the home for classified records to be returned to the government. That, prosecutors said, resulted in a false claim to the Justice Department that a "diligent search" for classified documents had been done and that all documents responsive to a subpoena had been returned. Prosecutors say Nauta also misled the FBI during an interview with agents last year when he said he was unaware of boxes of documents having been brought to Trump's residence at Mar-a-Lago.

(More classified information stories.)

Get breaking news in your inbox.
What you need to know, as soon as we know it.
Sign up
Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X