Walt Nauta, aide to former president Donald Trump, disembarks Trump’s airplane, often known as Trump Force One, in Bedminster, Latest Jersey, following a court appearance at Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse in Miami, June 13, 2023.
Jabin Botsford | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Walt Nauta, former President Donald Trump’s valet and co-defendant within the classified documents case, is ready to seem before a federal judge Thursday to enter a plea on six criminal charges.
Nauta’s arraignment in U.S. District Court in Miami comes greater than three weeks after Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 criminal counts related to his alleged efforts to carry onto top secret documents after leaving the White House in 2021.
The Navy veteran and aide to the previous president appeared at that initial June 13 court hearing, but he was not arraigned because he didn’t have a neighborhood Florida lawyer there to represent him. Nauta’s arraignment was delayed until June 27, but that was also postponed because his flight to Miami was canceled.
The most recent try to arraign Nauta is ready for Thursday morning at 11 a.m. ET. With just a couple of hours before the arraignment, there was still no indication on the criminal docket that Nauta had retained local counsel.
Stanley Woodward, a lawyer for Nauta who relies in Washington, D.C., didn’t immediately reply to CNBC’s request for comment ahead of the hearing.
The indictment from special counsel Jack Smith accuses Nauta of working with Trump to maneuver and conceal boxes containing a whole lot of classified documents that were stored at the previous president’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, after leaving office.
Nauta is charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding and corruptly concealing documents, and making false representations. Probably the most serious charges against Nauta carry 20-year maximum prison terms.
That is developing news. Please check back for updates.