Walt Nauta, aide to former president Donald Trump, disembarks Trump’s airplane, referred to as Trump Force One, in Bedminster, Recent 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
Donald Trump aide Walt Nauta has been unable to search out a neighborhood Florida lawyer to represent him within the criminal case against him and the previous president over the retention of classified government documents.
Nauta’s arraignment Tuesday in Miami federal court was postponed until July 6 to provide him more time to rent a neighborhood attorney to represent him, as required by court rules for such a proceeding.
Nauta didn’t appear in court for Tuesday’s truncated hearing because his flight from Recent Jersey was canceled, his out-of-state lawyer Stan Woodward told Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres, in line with a court filing.
Woodward, whose legal practice relies in Washington, D.C., declined to comment when asked by CNBC why his client has not yet hired a Florida attorney.
Nauta’s inability to rent a Florida lawyer echoes Trump’s own initial difficulty finding attorneys to represent him within the case after each men were indicted earlier this month on charges related to retaining classified documents at Trump’s residence in Palm Beach and allegedly hiding them from federal officials.
Trump, who’s searching for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, pleaded not guilty at his own arraignment earlier this month.