Trump Aide Nauta Pleads Not Guilty in Classified Documents Case

Facts

• Walt Nauta, the personal aide to former Pres. Donald Trump, pleaded not guilty on Thursday at a Miami federal court to six charges accusing him of conspiring with Trump to conceal classified documents the former president took to his Mar-a-Lago home after leaving office in 2021.¹
• It was unknown whether Nauta had found legal counsel, putting his appearance in question. Nauta’s first arraignment was postponed since he didn’t have a permanent Florida attorney, and his second was delayed due to weather. However, Nauta hired Sasha Dadan to represent him.²
• Dadan, a former public defender, appeared alongside Nauta’s Washington-based lawyer Stanley Woodward, who entered the not-guilty plea on his client’s behalf. The hearing lasted only five minutes, and Nauta only uttered three words, “Yes, Your Honor,” which he said when the judge asked him if he had reviewed the indictment.³
• Nauta faces criminal charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding and corruptly concealing documents, and making false representations, while Trump pled not guilty to 37 charges brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith last month.⁴
• The indictment claims Nauta moved 64 boxes, some containing classified documents, from the Mar-a-Lago storage room to Trump’s personal residence at the resort. If convicted, Nauta faces up to 90 years in prison.⁵
• This comes as, on Wednesday, the Justice Dept. released previously redacted parts of the warrant application used to search Mar-a-Lago last year. The unredacted portions reveal that a photograph of boxes of documents was the FBI’s probable cause to raid the former president’s residence.⁶

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²NBC, ³FOX News, ⁴Daily Wire, ⁵Daily Caller, and ⁶ITN.

Narratives

• Pro-Trump narrative, as provided by PJ Media. We all know the powers that be are committed to taking out Trump at all costs, and this investigation is their latest attempt. However, it's puzzling to see the US government and all its immensely powerful agencies going after a military veteran who served as an assistant to the president, showing that they'll stop at nothing to destroy those even at the bottom of the food chain if it means defeating Trump.
• Anti-Trump narrative, as provided by TPM. Walt Nauta has finally appeared after dodging arraignment twice. We all know Nauta is a pawn for Trump, and it's not hard to imagine the feckless former president used his former aide’s lack of an attorney to stall proceedings against him. Trump has continuously lashed out against America's justice system, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he pulled out every trick to circumvent the law again.

Predictions