2023-07-31 17:55:56
The manager of Donald Trump’s property in Florida, accused in the White House confidential documents case for which the former president is also being prosecuted, appeared before a federal judge in Miami on Monday.
Carlos De Oliveira, 56, was then released on bail, for an amount set at 100,000 dollars, pending trial.
Dressed in a dark blue suit, he listened carefully to the statement of his rights and the charges once morest him. He is mainly blamed for having destroyed evidence that might harm Mr. Trump and, in doing so, to have hindered the investigation targeting the Republican tenor.
Specifically, according to the prosecution, Mr. De Oliveira “insisted” with a technician at the Mar-a-Lago residence, saying “that +the boss+ wanted a server to be erased”, shortly following the federal investigators had requested access to the recordings of the cameras monitoring a room where boxes of documents were stored.
He is also accused of making false statements to the FBI.
Federal magistrate Edwin Torres prohibited the defendant from traveling outside Florida without permission or directly discussing the case with potential witnesses.
Asked by investigators whether he had helped transport or empty boxes of documents at Mar-A-Lago, Mr. De Oliveira said no. “Never seen anything,” he assured.
The 77-year-old former president was indicted in early June for his alleged negligent handling of the White House archives, and is due to stand trial from May 20, 2024, when the race for the Republican nomination for the presidential election will be in full swing.
Donald Trump is charged with “illegal retention of information relating to national security”, “obstructing justice” and “false testimony” in this case, for which he pleaded not guilty in mid-June in federal court in Miami.
The big favorite in the Republican primaries is accused of having endangered the security of the United States by keeping confidential documents following his departure from the White House in January 2021, including military plans or information on nuclear weapons, in his luxury Mar-a-Lago residence instead of handing them over to the National Archives.
Last Thursday, federal prosecutors said they are charging him, Mr. De Oliveira and another aide, Walt Nauta, with new facts in this case related to this attempt to evade justice from CCTV.
Donald Trump, who aims to return to the White House in 2024, assures that even a conviction would not make him stop his campaign.
His legal setbacks are expected to worsen soon: a Georgia prosecutor is due to announce in August the result of her investigation into the pressure he exerted to try to alter the result of the 2020 presidential election in this southern state.
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