Carlos De Oliveira (L), personal aide to former US President Donald Trump, arrives on the James L. King Federal Courthouse in Miami, Florida, on July 31, 2023.
Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty Images
The scheduled arraignment Monday morning of Carlos De Oliveira — the brand new co-defendant within the Trump classified documents criminal case — is up within the air because he has not yet gotten a lawyer who practices in Florida to represent him.
With out a Florida lawyer present, a judge could delay De Oliveira’s scheduled arraignment in Miami federal court, the defendant’s out-of-state attorney, John Irving, told NBC News Sunday.
De Oliveira nonetheless showed up at Miami federal court Monday for his first appearance within the case since being indicted last week.
His failure up to now to get a Florida lawyer mirrors the difficulties former President Donald Trump briefly had hiring a neighborhood attorney for the case. The third co-defendant, Trump valet Walt Nauta, had his arraignment twice postponed due to the same issue.
The DOJ’s indictment includes photos of classified documents found at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago residence.
Source: DOJ
“We’re working on ascertaining local counsel,” said Irving.
Courts as a rule insist that parties in criminal and civil cases be represented by lawyers who’re licensed to practice within the state where the case was brought. Out-of-state attorneys can, nevertheless, take the lead on representing a celebration in a case in the event that they have a neighborhood attorney’s cooperation.
De Oliveira, who worked in maintenance at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, is charged with participating in a cover-up effort with Trump and Nauta to cover surveillance video evidence that showed boxes of classified documents were being moved across the club.
DeOliveira was accused in an indictment last week of telling a Mar-a-Lago co-worker that Trump — “the boss” — wanted surveillance video from the club deleted after a federal grand jury had issued a subpoena for the video.
He is also charged with lying in an interview with the FBI, when he denied participating with Nauta in moving boxes of documents, which were being sought by the U.S. government.
Trump and Nauta previously pleaded not guilty.
Trump is the fundamental defendant within the case, accused of dozens of criminal counts related to his retention of classified government records after leaving the White House in January 2021.
