US drops classified documents case against Trump associates
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It was alleged that property manager Carlos De Oliveira (left) and personal valet Walt Nauta helped to obstruct a probe into Mr Donald Trump's mishandling of classified documents.
PHOTOS: REUTERS
WASHINGTON - US prosecutors on Jan 29 moved to end the criminal case against two associates of President Donald Trump for allegedly helping to obstruct a probe into Mr Trump's mishandling of classified documents, a court filing showed.
The pair, Mr Trump's personal valet Walt Nauta and property manager Carlos De Oliveira, did not object to the prosecutor's decision, according to the filing.
The move would end the final remaining portion of the two prosecutions of Mr Trump by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who resigned from the Justice Department earlier this month ahead of Mr Trump's return to the presidency.
It still must be approved by a federal appeals court.
"Carlos should never have been charged in this case in the first place, and I have zero doubt that he would have been acquitted at trial," Mr John Irving, a lawyer for Mr De Oliveria, said in a statement.
"It’s nice to see the Justice Department using better judgment these days."
A lawyer for Mr Nauta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr Smith dropped both cases accusing Mr Trump of illegally retaining classified documents and attempting to subvert the results of the 2020 election after Mr Trump's November election win, citing long-standing department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.
But prosecutors previously indicated they would continue their case against Mr Nauta and Mr De Oliveria, who had been charged alongside Mr Trump in the documents case.
Both pleaded not guilty to charges accusing them of helping Mr Trump to obstruct the US government's efforts to retrieve classified material at Mr Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence.
US District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump nominee, dismissed the charges against Mr Trump and his co-defendants in 2024, ruling that Mr Smith had been improperly appointed as special counsel.
The Jan 29 move will likely leave that ruling in place. Prosecutors had been appealing the decision, arguing it conflicted with decades of prior court rulings.
The Justice Department, in the final days of president Joe Biden's administration, opted not to publicly release a portion of Mr Smith's final report on the documents case out of concern it would interfere with the case against Mr Nauta and Mr De Oliveria.
Justice Department leaders under Mr Trump have described Mr Smith's cases as an abuse of the criminal justice system.
Mr Trump's acting attorney-general on Jan 27 fired more than a dozen lawyers who had worked on the investigation. REUTERS
