TL/DR –
A hearing in the case surrounding classified documents held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate devolved into arguments over an alleged threat made to defendant Walt Nauta’s defense attorney. Stanley Woodward, Nauta’s attorney, claimed prosecutor Jay Bratt tried to pressure him into convincing Nauta to cooperate against Trump by threatening to impact a potential judgeship nomination. This comes as Trump, Nauta, and property manager Carlos De Oliveira are charged with taking classified national defense documents from the White House after Trump left office.
Mar-a-Lago Classified Documents Case Erupts into Shouting Match
A hearing related to the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case erupted into heated arguments on Wednesday, focusing on an alleged threat made last year against a defense attorney.
The proceedings in Fort Pierce, Florida, were scheduled for Walt Nauta, a co-defendant of former President Donald Trump, to present arguments that charges against him were selectively and vindictively brought. No ruling was issued by Judge Aileen Cannon.
The hearing diverted into a disagreement over an August 2022 meeting between prosecutor Jay Bratt and Nauta’s defense attorney, Stanley Woodward. Woodward claims Bratt pressured him into convincing Nauta to cooperate against Trump, alleging a threat to a potential judgeship nomination.
Nauta alleges his criminal charges are retaliatory, as he declined to cooperate with the investigation into Trump’s retention of classified documents at his estate.
“There was a folder about defense counsel on the table,” Woodward said, claiming that Bratt referenced his judgeship recommendation during the meeting. He alleged that if he did not convince Nauta to cooperate with the investigation, there would be consequences.
Prosecutor David Harbach accused Woodward of making a “garbage argument” about the meeting, calling it “procedural gamesmanship.” He labelled Woodward’s account of the meeting as a “fantasy.”
The heated proceedings come as the hush money case against Trump nears conclusion and pretrial activity begins in the federal classified documents prosecution in Florida.
Trump is charged with taking classified national defense documents after leaving office and resisting government attempts to retrieve them. Trump, Nauta, and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira have all pleaded not guilty.
Nauta’s request to dismiss the case was the first of two issues before Judge Cannon. An afternoon hearing will focus on co-defendants’ argument that the indictment suffers technical flaws requiring dismissal.
Trump obtained permission from the judge to skip Wednesday’s proceedings. The trial was previously delayed indefinitely due to the magnitude of unresolved pretrial issues.
Cannon’s slow pace in the case has drawn criticism from outside legal experts, who accused her of playing into delay tactics. Unless Cannon speeds up the process, charges will unlikely go before a jury before the 2024 election. If Trump wins, it is expected he will make the charges disappear.
On Tuesday, hundreds of pages of previously sealed court filings were posted publicly as part of Trump’s attempt to have charges dismissed. These included a sealed March 2023 ruling by a federal judge in Washington, DC, finding sufficient evidence that Trump committed crimes.
Trump aims to dismiss that evidence and the evidence obtained in the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago in August 2022. These motions are not scheduled for argument on Wednesday, with no hearing set yet by Cannon.
Cannon expressed disappointment at prosecutors for seeking redactions in the unsealed filings after previously approving their full publication. She emphasized that the sealing and redaction rules should be consistently and fairly applied.
This headline and story have been updated with additional developments.
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