New Jack Smith witnesses could tie Trump to conspiracy to delete Mar-a-Lago video evidence

13 January 2024

Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith recently announced several new witnesses who are experts in digital forensics as part of his ongoing prosecution of former President Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents.

According to NBC News, Smith's five witnesses will be called to testify in Trump's May trial in US District Court for the Southern District of Florida who are proficient in either digital forensics or cellular analytics. Smith aims to use their testimony to tie the former president to efforts by co-defendants Walter Nauta — his longtime body man — and Carlos De Oliveira, who was Mar-a-Lago's former property manager, to delete security footage at Trump's Florida estate.

Smith's latest filing references a June 2022 conversation that De Oliveira had with Yuscil Taveras, who was the director of information technology at Mar-a-Lago. In that conversation, De Oliveira asked Taveras about how long the security camera server retained footage, adding that "the boss" (Trump) wanted to wipe the server. De Oliveira later spoke with Nauta following his conversation with Taveras, according to Smith's indictment.

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The classified documents trial is scheduled for May 20, 2024. However, experts have doubted whether the trial will begin then, due to both Trump's ongoing immunity appeal before the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, and US District Judge Aileen Cannon's pre-trial decisions extending the deadlines for classified document review to February.

In addition to potential complications from Cannon's pre-trial ruling and the appeals process, Trump will also have a particularly busy spring given his scheduled March trials in both US District Court in Washington, DC for alleged election interference, and for later that month in Manhattan District Court for alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' RICO trial has not yet been officially scheduled, though Willis has asked for an August trial date.

Aside from the former president's pending criminal trials, he's also due in US District Court in New York next week to stand trial in writer E. Jean Carroll's defamation case. Because Trump has already been found liable for both sexual abuse and defamation, the January 16 trial will only be for the jury to determine the amount of damages the ex-president should be required to pay.

Trump, Nauta and De Oliveira have all pleaded not guilty in the classified documents case.

Read NBC's full report by clicking here.

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