‘They should stop’: Jack Smith tells Mar-a-Lago judge to ignore Trump valet’s ‘deeply flawed’ bid to toss case based on lawyer’s ‘conversation over coffee with a prosecutor’

Valet Walt Nauta hands former President Donald Trump an umbrell

Valet Walt Nauta hands former President Donald Trump an umbrella before he speaks at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023, in Arlington, Va., after facing a judge on federal conspiracy charges that allege he conspired to subvert the 2020 election. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Special counsel Jack Smith on Thursday asked the judge overseeing the Mar-a-Lago documents case to ignore a series of “false factual allegations and meritless legal arguments” recently put forward by former President Donald Trump’s valet Waltine “Walt” Nauta.

Nauta faces charges of conspiracy to obstruct, making false statements to the FBI, and withholding documents — connected to an alleged scheme to delete Mar-a-Lago camera footage and conceal boxes of classified documents from a grand jury. In reply briefs, he argued the indictment should be thrown out because he was singled out via vindictive prosecution and impermissibly retaliated against because he declined to testify in front of a grand jury.

In late March, Nauta alleged he was being prosecuted in part due to government “animus” toward him and had been vindictively charged because of his refusal to cooperate with federal investigators. Days later, Smith fired back, calling Nauta’s claims “meritless,” “flat-out false” and “deeply flawed,” and, in any event, simply raised far too late.

The back-and-forth continued two weeks later with Nauta’s reply to the government’s arguments. Now, once again, the special counsel is pointing out the sluggish pace and reiterating earlier arguments.

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