'Run as fast as you can': Trump aide faces pressure to 'flip' in Mar-a-Lago documents case

27 June 2023

This Tuesday, June 27, Walt Nauta — a Donald Trump aide and the former president's co-defendant in special counsel Jack Smith's Mar-a-Lago documents prosecution — is scheduled to be arraigned in a federal courtroom in Miami. Nauta is expected to plead "not guilty" to charges that include making false statements to the FBI and helping Trump conceal classified government documents.

If convicted, Nauta could face up to 20 years in federal prison. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), according to reports, is hoping that Nauta will "flip" on Trump and offer testimony against him. But whether Nauta will or won't flip on Trump remains to be seen; some of Trump's former allies have "flipped," some have not.

In an article published by The Messenger on June 26, journalist Maggie Severns explains, "Nauta is now navigating a difficult choice: Whether maintaining fealty to Trump — who has been employing Nauta since he left the White House — is worth it. If he chose to flip against Trump and strike a deal with the Justice Department, he could avoid a tough sentence."

Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney and fixer, went from being a Trump loyalist to being a scathing critic of the former president. Cohen told The Messenger, "The best advice I would give to Walt is to run as fast as you can."

Severns notes, however, that Nauta "for now, has stayed by Trump's side."

Former federal prosecutor Kenneth White told The Messenger, "If (Nauta) wants to preserve his relationship with Trump and the people aligned with Trump and hope they'll take care of him, obviously he's going to try to defend and not cave. If he wants the most lenient deal, the best way to do that would be to cooperate (with DOJ)."

The Messenger's full report is available at this link.

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