Walt Nauta | |
---|---|
![]() Nauta in the U.S. Navy, 2008 | |
Born | Waltine Torre Nauta Jr. [1] 1982or1983(age 41–42) [2] |
Occupation(s) | Valet and body man |
Known for | Indictment with Donald Trump on federal charges |
Military career | |
Service/ | United States Navy |
Years of service | 2001–21 |
Rank | Senior Chief Petty Officer |
Waltine Torre Nauta Jr. [1] (born 1982or1983 [2] ) is an American valet and body man to former U.S. president Donald Trump. He is a defendant in a criminal case over violations of the Espionage Act and related offenses. While a petty officer in the U.S. Navy, he was Trump's valet at the White House. After Trump's term ended, Nauta continued to work for him at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club and residence.
In June 2023, Trump and Nauta were indicted by a federal grand jury in a criminal case over violations of the Espionage Act and related offenses. Nauta was charged with six counts of federal crimes and pleaded not guilty. [3] On July 27, two new counts of obstruction were brought against Nauta. [4]
The original six charges against Nauta relate to allegations that he, acting at Trump's direction, moved boxes that included illegally retained classified documents and national defense-related documents to Trump's residence, and then lied about it to federal investigators. He was indicted for conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, corruptly concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and making false statements and representations. The charges are punishable by up to 90 years in prison if he is convicted.
Nauta was born in Hågat, Guam, and grew up there with five siblings. [5] [6] He graduated from Southern High School in nearby Sånta Rita-Sumai. [2] [7]
Nauta enlisted in the U.S. Navy in July 2001. [2] He was a cook, with the rating of culinary specialist. [1] Among his Navy postings were stints with a strike fighter squadron in California, and at a submarine base in Georgia. [8] In 2012, he was assigned to the Presidential Food Service, which is run by the U.S. Navy and manages the White House Mess as part of the White House Military Office. [1] [9]
During the presidency of Donald Trump, Nauta became a personal valet to the president. [10] He was responsible for responding to the presidential call button, including when the president requested Diet Cokes, which Nauta would bring to Trump on a silver platter. [11] [8] Nauta was promoted to senior chief petty officer in September 2020. [10]
When Trump's term of office ended in January 2021, Nauta accompanied him to Mar-a-Lago, where he worked as Trump's butler and body man. [1] [12] He frequently traveled with Trump to public appearances and campaign events. [1] By August 2021, Nauta was on the payroll of Trump's political action committee, Save America. [1] Nauta's service in the Navy ended in September 2021. [10] He was also paid by Trump's 2024 presidential campaign beginning in November 2022. [1]
Nauta was accused of sexual harassment and revenge porn by several women in spring 2021, which led to him being reassigned and his security credentials being docked. This was several weeks before he left the Navy and became a personal employee of Trump. [13]
Nauta was called as a witness in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation into Donald Trump's handling of government documents; the investigation began in 2022. [2] Investigators with the independent special counsel investigation led by Jack Smith came to doubt Nauta's account of his activities, and beginning in fall 2022 considered whether to charge him with crimes. [14] [15] Nauta declined to cooperate with prosecutors, and on May 24, 2023, the special counsel formally notified Nauta that he was a target of the investigation. [15] [16]
On June 8, 2023, Nauta was co-indicted with Trump by a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, based in Miami. Nauta was indicted on six counts: conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, corruptly concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and making false statements and representations. [17] [18] [19] At the time of the indictment, Nauta was with Trump at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster. [18]
According to the indictment, in the waning days of Trump's term in office, both Trump and Nauta packed items from the White House to ship to Mar-a-Lago in Florida. [1] The indictment alleges that, between November 2021 and January 2022, Nauta, acting at Trump's direction, moved boxes that included illegally retained classified documents and national defense-related documents from a storage room at Mar-a-Lago to Trump's residence. [17] [18]
The indictment also alleges that, after a federal grand jury issued a subpoena in May 2022 requiring the return of the government documents, Nauta assisted Trump in concealing documents from the grand jury, the FBI, and Trump's own lawyers. [9] [20] It alleges that Trump and Nauta misled a lawyer working for Trump (referenced in the indictment as "Attorney 1," and identified as Evan Corcoran) who was working on gathering documents to comply with the subpoena. [20] According to the indictment, between May 23, 2022 (when Trump met with his attorneys) and June 2, 2022 (when Corcoran told Trump he planned to search a storage room in Mar-a-Lago for documents sought by the subpoena), Nauta was seen on surveillance video removing 64 boxes from a storage room and delivering them to Trump's residence, then returning only 30 boxes to the room. [20] [21] According to the indictment, Nauta texted another Trump employee that he had found that several of Trump's boxes had fallen onto the floor, spilling their contents, and Nauta sent a photo to the other employee showing a document on the floor with visible classification markings. [22] The indictment states that Nauta lied to FBI investigators in May 2022, by falsely claiming he was not aware of boxes being brought to Trump's residence for Trump's review. [17] [23] The charges are punishable by up to 90 years in prison. [24]
On July 27, a superseding indictment [25] was filed with two new counts of obstruction against Nauta, bringing the total counts against Nauta to eight. [4]
Trump was arraigned on June 13 and pleaded not guilty to all 37 counts. [26] The federal magistrate judge twice postponed Nauta's arraignment so Stanley Woodward —Nauta's Washington, D.C. lawyer, whose fees are paid by Trump's Save America political action committee —could find local counsel admitted to practice in the Southern District of Florida with whom to work, as required by court rules. (Woodward is not a member of the local court bar, and thus is appearing pro hac vice .) [27] [28] [29] [30] [31]
On June 13, Trump and Nauta were granted pre-trial release, on their own recognizance. [32] As is common in criminal matters, the co-defendants were instructed that they were prohibited from discussing the case with each other, except through their lawyers. A similar restriction applied to their communications with witnesses. Trump and Nauta remained free to converse directly on topics unrelated to the case. [26] Nauta continued to serve as a personal assistant to Trump. [33]
Nauta ultimately hired Sasha Dadan (a criminal defense lawyer and former public defender whose main office is in Fort Pierce, Florida, where the trial judge would be based) to co-counsel with Woodward. At his arraignment on July 6, Nauta pleaded not guilty. [3] [34] [35] [36] On July 10, Nauta requested an indefinite postponement of a pre-trial hearing in the case scheduled for July 14. That week, Woodward was anticipated to be in another courthouse defending a different man (Federico Guillermo “Freddie” Klein) tied to Trump, who was on trial related to the U.S. Capitol storming; the government opposed the request. [37] [38]
Nauta's trial is scheduled to follow that of Trump's, which prosecutors told the judge they would like to begin on December 11. [35] [39] [40] [41] On July 21, 2023, the trial of the two defendants was scheduled by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon for May 20, 2024. [42] [43] However, Cannon would later suspend the trial date and order more pre-trial hearings. [44] [45]
On May 21, 2024, photos were released showing Nauta moving boxes around Mar-a-Lago in June 2022. [46] [47]
Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal charging document in the presence of the defendant, to inform them of the criminal charges against them. In response to arraignment, in some jurisdictions, the accused is expected to enter a plea; in other jurisdictions, no plea is required. Acceptable pleas vary among jurisdictions, but they generally include guilty, not guilty, and the peremptory pleas setting out reasons why a trial cannot proceed. Pleas of nolo contendere and the Alford plea are allowed in some circumstances.
A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "valet" by itself most often refers to a normal servant responsible for the clothes and personal belongings of an employer, and making minor arrangements. In the United States, the term most often refers to a parking valet, and the role is often confused with a butler.
Allen Howard Weisselberg is an American businessman who was convicted of tax evasion in connection with his role as former chief financial officer (CFO) of the Trump Organization. Weisselberg served as a co-trustee of a trust set up in 2017 by Donald Trump before Trump's inauguration as president of the United States. In 2022, Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 criminal charges including grand larceny, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records. In January 2023, he began serving a five-month jail sentence and was released the following April. A ruling which was handed down in February 2024 also resulted in Weisselberg being permanently banned from serving in financial control function of any New York corporation or business, and also banned him from serving as a director or officer for any New York corporation or business for three years. In 2024, he pleaded guilty to perjury and was sentenced to another five months in prison.
The Special Counsel investigation was a United States law enforcement and counterintelligence investigation of the Russian government's efforts to interfere in United States politics and any possible involvement by members of the 2016 Trump presidential campaign. It was primarily focused on the 2016 presidential election.
Aileen Mercedes Cannon is a Colombian-born American lawyer who has served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida since 2020. As president, Donald Trump nominated and appointed Cannon to the federal bench after confirmation by the U.S. Senate in November 2020. Cannon worked for the corporate law firm Gibson Dunn from 2009 to 2012 and was a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of Florida from 2013 to 2020.
Christina Bobb is an American lawyer, television personality and Republican Party official. She gained prominence for her television promotion of president Donald Trump and involvement in attempts to overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election, and promotion of the false allegation that the election had been stolen from Trump by fraud. She was involved in the FBI investigation into Donald Trump's handling of government documents. Prior to working as a Trump attorney, she was an executive secretary for the Department of Homeland Security and in 2020 became an anchor at One America News Network, a far-right, pro-Trump cable channel. The Republican National Committee named Bobb to lead its election integrity program in March 2024. Bobb and seventeen other Arizona Republicans and Trump associates were indicted in April 2024 for their alleged involvement in the Trump fake electors plot to subvert the 2020 presidential election.
The United States Justice Department investigation into attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election began in early 2021 with investigations and prosecutions of hundreds of individuals who participated in the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol. By early 2022, the investigation had expanded to examine Donald Trump's inner circle, with the Justice Department impaneling several federal grand juries to investigate the attempts to overturn the election. Later in 2022, a special counsel was appointed. On August 1, 2023, Trump was indicted. The indictment also describes six alleged co-conspirators.
On August 8, 2022, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, the residence of former U.S. president Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Florida.
Plasmic Echo was the codename for a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump's handling of classified and national defense-related government documents beginning in 2022, looking for possible violations of the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice.
An ongoing special counsel investigation was opened by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland on November 18, 2022, to continue two investigations initiated by the Justice Department (DOJ) regarding former U.S. President Donald Trump. Garland appointed Jack Smith, a longtime federal prosecutor, to lead the independent investigations. Smith was tasked with investigating Trump's role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack and Trump's mishandling of government records, including classified documents.
Matthew Evan Corcoran is an American former federal prosecutor who became a white-collar crime defense attorney, and who gained prominence due to his role in the FBI investigation into Donald Trump's handling of government documents as Donald Trump's attorney.
In 2023, four criminal indictments were filed against Donald Trump, president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Two indictments are on state charges and two indictments are on federal charges. These indictments amount to a total of 88 felony charges. The New York trial began on April 15, 2024 and concluded on May 30, 2024 with Trump's conviction on all 34 charges. The District of Columbia trial was put on hold in February 2024 while waiting for the Supreme Court to determine whether Trump is immune from prosecution. The Georgia trial has not yet been scheduled, and the Florida trial is in flux awaiting a ruling from the judge.
United States of America v. Donald J. Trump, Waltine Nauta, and Carlos De Oliveira is a pending federal criminal case against Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, Walt Nauta, his personal aide and valet, and Mar-a-Lago maintenance chief Carlos De Oliveira. The grand jury indictment brings 40 felony counts against Trump related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents after his presidency, to which he has pleaded not guilty. The case marks the first federal indictment of a former U.S. president.
Stanley Edmund Woodward Jr. is an American attorney with Brand Woodward Law. His clients have included those subpoenaed or convicted for the January 6 United States Capitol attack, and aides to Donald Trump.
Save America is a leadership political action committee founded and controlled by former US president Donald Trump. It has been Trump's primary fundraising and political spending arm since he left office.
The State of Georgia v. Donald J. Trump, et al. is a pending criminal case against Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, and 18 co-defendants. The prosecution alleges that Trump led a "criminal racketeering enterprise", in which he and all other defendants "knowingly and willfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome" of the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Georgia. All defendants are charged with one count of violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, which has a penalty of five to twenty years in prison. The indictment comes in the context of Trump's broader effort to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election. As of June 2024, it is one of three ongoing criminal indictments against Trump.
People of the State of Michigan v. Berden et al. is a state criminal prosecution concerning the Trump fake electors plot in Michigan. The sixteen defendants are accused of producing and attempting to use a false certificate of ascertainment containing electoral votes for Donald Trump, who had lost the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Michigan. The defendants were indicted in July 2023 on criminal charges of forgery, uttering, and conspiracy, all felonies.
State of Arizona v. Kelli Ward, et al. is a state criminal prosecution concerning the Trump fake electors plot in Arizona. The eighteen defendants, including eleven Arizona Republicans and seven Donald Trump associates, are accused of producing and attempting to use a certificate of ascertainment to falsely claim Trump had won the state's electoral votes in the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Arizona. The eleven fake electors included former Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward, who allegedly led ten other Republicans in signing the fraudulent certificate. The indictment contains nine criminal counts, including felony fraud, forgery and conspiracy.
State of Nevada v. Michael J. McDonald, et al. is a state criminal prosecution concerning the Trump fake electors plot in Nevada. The six defendants are accused of offering a false instrument for file or record and uttering a forged instrument to falsely claim that Donald Trump won the state's electoral votes in the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Nevada. Among the accused are Michael J. McDonald, the chair of the Nevada Republican Party, and Clark County Republican chairman Jesse Law.
As part of her order, Cannon also pushed back a key CIPA-related deadline from May 9 to June 17.