Left: Special counsel Jack Smith (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Right: Former President Donald Trump on Aug. 3, 2023, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
In perhaps the most significant development since former President Donald Trump was indicted in the Florida federal classified documents case, the IT director at Mar-a-Lago has reversed course and “implicated” his boss and two others “in efforts to delete security camera footage,” according to special counsel Jack Smith.
The revelation about Trump Employee 4, reportedly Yuscil Taveras, came in a Tuesday filing from federal prosecutors in Judge Aileen Cannon’s courtroom.
Smith, in defending the use of the out-of-district grand jury in Washington, D.C., said he has evidence that Trump employee-turned-co-defendant Carlos De Oliveira “tried to enlist the director of information technology for Mar-a-Lago (identified in the superseding indictment as Trump Employee 4) to delete Mar-a-Lago security footage after the grand jury in the District of Columbia had issued a subpoena for the footage.”
This development is important because it goes right to the heart of Smith’s obstruction case against Trump and his “body man” Waltine “Walt” Nauta for allegedly concealing sensitive documents the federal government was attempting to recover.
The indictment alleged that Trump not only willfully retained classified information, in violation of the Espionage Act, but also “endeavored to obstruct the FBI and grand jury investigations and conceal his continued retention of classified documents” in several ways, including by allegedly “directing” Nauta to “move boxes of documents to conceal them from TRUMP’s attorney, the FBI, and the grand jury.”
The indictment said federal investigators already had proof through Mar-a-Lago surveillance footage that boxes full of documents were deliberately and suspiciously moved, but now there’s even more detail as to why.
Trump Employee 4 had been represented by defense attorney Stanley Woodward, who also represents Nauta. As Jack Smith told it, Trump Employee 4 lied to the grand jury in D.C. when he denied having information “about obstructive acts that would implicate Nauta (and others).”
Because that falsehood was told in D.C., “it was appropriate” to use the out-of-district grand jury to “investigate false statements by Trump Employee 4 and De Oliveira.”
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“Neither individual was named in the indictment against Nauta and Trump, and venue for charges based upon their false statements in the District of Columbia would lie only in that district,” the special counsel said.
Smith also explained why a Garcia hearing was needed to deal with conflicts posed by attorney Stanley Woodward’s “prior and current representation of three individuals the Government may call to testify at the trial of his client [Nauta].” Trump Employee 4, confronted with the choice of criminal exposure or singing for the government, chose to reverse course — running directly counter to the defense Woodward was putting on for Nauta.
“Advising Trump Employee 4 to correct his sworn testimony would result in testimony incriminating Mr. Woodward’s other client, Nauta; but permitting Trump Employee 4’s false testimony to stand uncorrected would leave Trump Employee 4 exposed to criminal charges for perjury,” Smith’s reply said. “Moreover, an attorney for Trump had put Trump Employee 4 in contact with Mr. Woodward, and his fees were being paid by Trump’s political action committee (PAC).”
In the face a perjury threat for lying to the grand jury, Trump Employee 4 ditched Woodward for a public defender and on July 5th flipped on Trump, according to the special counsel’s office.
“Immediately after receiving new counsel, Trump Employee 4 retracted his prior false testimony and provided information that implicated Nauta, De Oliveira, and Trump in efforts to delete security camera footage, as set forth in the superseding indictment,” prosecutors said.
You can expect Trump’s defense lawyers to impeach Trump Employee 4’s credibility and attack the IT director’s motives, as Jack Smith himself foresees.
“The Government anticipates calling Trump Employee 4 as a trial witness and expects that he will testify to conduct alleged in the superseding indictment regarding efforts to delete security footage,” the reply continued. “Trump Employee 4 will very likely face cross-examination about his prior inconsistent statements in his grand jury testimony, which occurred while Mr. Woodward represented him, and which he disavowed immediately after obtaining new counsel.”
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