Arraignment of Trump’s Valet Charged in Classified Documents Case Delayed Again

A valet for former President Donald Trump, who has been accused of assisting in the concealment of classified documents from federal authorities, is scheduled to appear in a Florida court for arraignment after previous delays. The earlier appearance was postponed due to a canceled flight.

Walt Nauta, charged alongside Trump in a 38-count indictment related to mishandling classified documents, will face arraignment before a federal magistrate in Miami. However, this process has been postponed twice already as Nauta has faced difficulties in securing a lawyer licensed to practice in Florida to represent him.

During Trump’s arraignment on June 13, he pleaded not guilty to charges that included willful retention of national defense information. On that day, Nauta’s arraignment was postponed because he lacked a defense attorney authorized to practice in Florida. Last week, his arraignment was delayed again when his flight from New Jersey was canceled after being significantly delayed on the tarmac.

In other news, it has been reported that Trump raised over $35 million in the second quarter of the year according to his campaign. Additionally, a man armed with a firearm was arrested after prosecutors claim that Trump shared what he said was Obama’s address. Furthermore, Trump’s recent rally in South Carolina attracted a large crowd in a predominantly Republican area. A conservative LGBT group has labeled an anti-Trump video shared by the DeSantis campaign as “homophobic.”

According to the indictment filed by special counsel Jack Smith and his team, Nauta is accused of conspiring with Trump to hide records he took from the White House after his term ended in January 2021. Prosecutors allege that, under the direction of the former president, Nauta moved boxes containing classified documents to prevent them from being discovered by a Trump lawyer responsible for searching the residence for classified records to be returned to the government. As a result, the Justice Department was provided with false information, claiming a thorough search had been conducted and all subpoenaed documents had been returned.

Nauta, a Navy veteran who served as Trump’s valet at the White House and later became his personal aide at Mar-a-Lago, frequently accompanies the former president. He even traveled in Trump’s motorcade to the Miami courthouse for their previous appearance and joined him afterward at the renowned Cuban restaurant Versailles, where he assisted in organizing supporters who wanted to take selfies with Trump.

Tucker reported from Washington.

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