From the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, AP
U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon and former President Donald Trump.
CNN
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Special Counsel Jack Smith's claim that aides obstructed the Justice Department's investigation into President Donald Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago faced its first major test in a hearing Friday. ing.
Judge Eileen Cannon, who is overseeing the criminal case in Florida federal court, is weighing in on whether to drop obstruction charges against President Trump's co-defendant Carlos de Oliveira. is approaching.
Cannon does not plan to consider President Trump's request to have the case dismissed on Friday, but how he responds to his co-defendants' claims of obstruction will be a key question for the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election. This is likely to have an impact on how Cannon's defense activities proceed.
Cannon appeared skeptical of De Oliveira's claim that FBI agents asked unclear or irrelevant questions during a voluntary interview, and questioned why that claim should be made to a jury at trial. I asked defense attorney John Irving if there was. De Oliveira is accused of lying to law enforcement about the movement of a box containing confidential Mar-a-Lago documents.
De Oliveira was unaware of the subpoena issued to Trump for both the classified documents and the Mar-a-Lago surveillance footage of the documents in transit, so the obstruction-related charges against him are dismissed. argues that it should.
Jay Blatt, speaking for the special counsel team, said prosecutors do not need to show that Mr. de Oliveira knew about the subpoena or what it requested. Blatt said prosecutors only need to show they were aware of the federal investigation.
Mr. Cannon asked Mr. Blatt where the special counsel alleges that Mr. de Oliveira knew about the investigation. Mr Blatt replied that without evidence he would not have filed charges.
As Trump and his allies claim they are being selectively prosecuted by the Biden administration, Smith and his allies say they tried to obstruct an investigation into classified documents taken from the Trump White House. They argued that the former president's actions in the case are what distinguish this case from other cases involving former presidents. The vice president is under investigation for handling classified government materials.
walt Nauta, who worked as Trump's personal valet, and de Oliveira, who worked as a property manager at Mar-a-Lago, conspired to hide documents in Trump's Florida mansion after he left the White House. and is accused of lying to the FBI. In an interview, he spoke about his alleged involvement in moving documents.
President Trump and two co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to obstruction charges, and the former president has pleaded not guilty to charges related to allegations of mishandling classified government information.
In a court filing earlier this year, Mr. Nauta and Mr. de Oliveira urged Mr. Cannon to drop the obstruction charges they are facing because Mr. Smith has not fulfilled his legal responsibility to pursue the allegations. I asked.
Mr Nauta argued that the number of crimes he was facing was too vague. And Mr de Oliveira had “no clue” that the box he allegedly helped move around the club contained confidential documents, leading investigators to obtain key evidence. He argued that he could not have intentionally tried to prevent this.
De Oliveira is also asking the judge to drop charges against him for allegedly lying to the FBI about moving the boxes during a random interrogation. Because, according to de Oliveira's argument, his lies did not adversely affect the criminal investigation.
But Mr. Smith's team said Mr. de Oliveira's arguments about the strength of the government's case should be left to a jury to decide. Regarding Nauta's argument that the charges are too vague, Smith said the case contains “broad allegations” of “criminal conduct allegedly committed by Nauta.”
In his own interview with the FBI, the transcript of which was made public Thursday, Nauta said the transition from the White House was “literally a mess,” adding that Trump kept news clippings, hairspray, shampoo, picture frames and more. He repeatedly asserted that he believed that There are various materials inside the box. Nauta is charged with lying during the interview.
If Cannon rejected their efforts, both co-defendants asked the judge to produce a document called a “specification” containing a detailed description of the crimes that prosecutors plan to prove at trial. .
Smith's team called the requests “a thinly veiled attempt to force the government to disclose its trial strategy.”
