Trump prosecutors are 'reaching' with charges against Mar-a-Lago staffers: Francey Hakes
Former federal prosecutor Francey Hakes joins 'Fox & Friends' to provide analysis of the growing charges in Trump's classified documents case
Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira was released on a $100,000 bond but could not yet be arraigned in the classified documents case involving former President Trump.
De Oliveira made his first court appearance Monday at the James L. King Federal Courthouse in Miami days after federal prosecutors alleged he instructed another unnamed Trump employee to delete security footage at the property in Palm Beach.
De Oliveira was added last week to the indictment with Trump and the ex-president's valet, Walt Nauta, and faces charges including conspiracy to obstruct justice and lying to investigators.
A magistrate judge in Miami's federal court read De Oliveira the charges against him and ordered him to turn over his passport and sign an agreement to pay $100,000 if he does not appear in court. The judge scheduled his arraignment for Aug. 10 in Fort Pierce.
Mar-a-Lago property manager appears in Florida federal court in his first appearance following his indictment in the classified documents case involving former President Donald Trump. (William Hennessy, Jr/ CourtroomArt.com)
Similar to what occurred with Nauta, De Oliveira's arraignment was delayed because he has not yet been able to retain a South Florida attorney, as required by the district, the Miami Herald reported.
The developments in the classified documents case come as Trump braces for possible charges in another federal investigation into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Trump, the early front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary race, said he received a letter from special counsel Jack Smith indicating that he is a target of that investigation, and Trump’s lawyers met with Smith’s team last week. Trump, who pleaded not guilty to 37 counts in the classified documents case in June, has denied any wrongdoing.
In a TRUTH Social post Sunday, he said Mar-a-Lago security tapes were "not deleted" and in fact "voluntarily handed over" to so-called "thugs" headed up by Smith.
Carlos De Oliveira arrives for a Miami federal court appearance with attorney John Irving, on Monday, July 31, 2023, in Miami. (Wilfredo Lee/AP)
Nauta has also pleaded not guilty. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon had previously scheduled the trial of Trump and Nauta to begin in May, but it is unclear whether the addition of De Oliveira to the case may impact the case’s timeline.
The latest indictment, unsealed on Thursday, alleges that Trump tried to have security footage deleted after investigators visited in June 2022 to collect classified documents Trump took with him after he left the White House. Trump was already facing dozens of felony counts – including willful retention of national defense information – stemming from allegations that he mishandled government secrets that as commander-in-chief he was entrusted to protect.
Carlos De Oliveira, a property manager for former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, leaves the Miami federal courthouse on July 31, 2023. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Prosecutors allege that days after the Justice Department sent a subpoena for video footage at Mar-a-Lago to the Trump Organization in June 2022, De Oliveira asked an information technology staffer how long the server retained footage and told the employee "the boss" wanted it deleted. When the employee said he did not believe he was able to do that, De Oliveira allegedly insisted the "boss" wanted it done, asking, "What are we going to do?"
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Shortly after the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago and found classified records in the storage room and Trump’s office, prosecutors say, Nauta allegedly called a Trump employee and said words to the effect of "someone just wants to make sure Carlos is good." The indictment says the employee responded that De Oliveira was loyal and would not do anything to affect his relationship with Trump. That day, the indictment alleges, Trump called De Oliveira directly to say that he would get De Oliveira an attorney.
Prosecutors allege that De Oliveira later lied in interviews with investigators, falsely claiming that he had not even seen boxes moved into Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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