Originally published July 27, 2023 4:23 pm PDT
The U.S. Department of Justice has leveled fresh charges against former President Donald Trump and an additional co-defendant in a case concerning classified records.
The updated indictment issued by a grand jury on Thursday claims that Trump, along with his aides, sought to erase surveillance footage from his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida, allegedly as part of an effort to impede investigations into classified documents.
According to the indictment, Trump conspired with Carlos de Oliveira, the hotel’s property manager, and co-defendant Walt Nauta, to remove the said footage.
This latest update brings the total counts against Trump to 42, including an added Espionage Act charge.
The 56-year-old property manager, de Oliveira, was revealed to have attempted to understand the duration of video storage on Mar-a-Lago’s security system. A
llegedly, he subsequently informed a fellow employee that the order to delete the server had come from “‘the boss.’”
The indictment also gives details of secret arrangements made by de Oliveira and Nauta, which seemingly took place in the bushes surrounding the IT office responsible for the management of the surveillance footage.
Phone conversations between de Oliveira and Trump, and a subsequent discussion about loyalty and legal representation, were also mentioned in the indictment.
De Oliveira, accused of lying about his role in moving boxes at the Mar-a-Lago property, is scheduled to appear in a Miami court on Monday.
In addition to these allegations, Trump is charged with allegedly violating the Espionage Act for a secret document related to a foreign country’s military activity, expanding the tally to a 30-second document.
Responding to the updated indictment, a Trump spokesperson discredited the fresh charges, labelling them as “nothing more than a continued desperate and flailing attempt” by the Biden administration “to harass President Trump and those around him.”
The statement also suggests a motivation of influencing the upcoming 2024 presidential elections.
The spokesperson’s statement read, “Deranged Jack Smith knows that they have no case and is casting about for any way to salvage their illegal witch hunt and to get someone other than Donald Trump to run against Crooked Joe Biden.”
This case occurs simultaneously with another investigation by a special counsel in Washington.
Earlier in the day, President Trump had confirmed his attorneys met with Special Counsel Jack Smith ahead of a possible indictment in the Jan 6 probe.
“My attorneys had a productive meeting with the DOJ this morning, explaining in detail that I did nothing wrong, was advised by many lawyers, and that an Indictment of me would only further destroy our Country,” Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social.
He also implied not only that there were no indications prosecutors had anything serious in mind, but that the mainstream media was being overly dramatic in its coverage of the two sides’ lawyers’ meeting.
“No indication of notice was given during the meeting—Do not trust the Fake News on anything!” Trump wrote.
Just hours later, Trump would be hit with new charges from Biden’s DOJ.
