Donald Trump aide Walt Nauta pleaded not guilty at a Miami federal courthouse on Thursday to charges he helped the former US president hide top secret documents that Trump took when he left the White House in 2021.
Attorney Stanley Woodward entered the plea for Mr Nauta at an arraignment lasting a few minutes. Mr Nauta’s Florida-based lawyer, Sasha Dadan, was also present.
Mr Nauta smiled at reporters but said nothing on arrival at the courthouse. He and the lawyers left without speaking to reporters as well.
Mr Nauta, a former White House valet and now a Trump aide, faces six counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice, false statements, and withholding and concealing documents.
Prosecutors allege Mr Nauta hid boxes of documents from Trump’s lawyers who were searching Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida resort, for classified material sought by the US Justice Department.
Mr Nauta also is accused of lying to investigators during a voluntary interview.
Mr Nauta made his initial appearance alongside Mr Trump on June 13th but was not arraigned for lack of a lawyer licenced to practice in Florida. His arraignment was postponed a second time in late June for the same reason.
Ms Dadan, his Florida attorney, is a former public defender who ran unsuccessfully for the state’s House of Representatives as a Republican in 2018.
Mr Woodward, based in Washington, has represented others in Mr Trump’s circle including former aides Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro, as well as several defendants charged in the January 6th, 2021, assault on the US Capitol by Trump supporters.
Mr Trump, front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, pleaded not guilty to 37 criminal counts for allegedly retaining national security documents without authorisation and obstructing justice.
Prosecutors have asked US district judge Aileen Cannon to delay the trial until December 11th. She had set an initial trial date of August 14th.
Mr Trump is the first US president past or present to face criminal charges in both federal and state courts.
Special counsel Jack Smith, in charge of the prosecution, accuses Mr Trump of risking national secrets by taking thousands of sensitive papers with him when he left the White House in January 2021 and storing them in a haphazard manner at Mar-a-Lago in Florida and his New Jersey golf club.
In addition to the documents case, Mr Trump is charged in New York with allegedly falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to an adult film star during his 2016 presidential campaign. He pleaded not guilty also in that case.
Mr Trump denies wrongdoing and says the investigations are part of a political plot against him.
Judge Cannon has set a July 14th hearing over how classified information in the case will be handled. Legal experts have said the complexities surrounding the use of highly classified documents as evidence are likely to delay Mr Trump’s trial. – Reuters