IT Employee at Mar-a-Lago, Jack Smith, Agrees to Strike Cooperation

A Mar-a-Lago IT worker struck a cooperation agreement with special counsel Jack Smith, flipping against former President Donald Trump, according to a filing from his former attorney, reports CNN.

It was already known that Yuscil Taveras retracted his original statement, leading to the indictment of Trump and his close aide, Walt Nauta, over Trump’s handling of classified information.

But the filing from attorney Stanley Woodward states that Taveras will not face prosecution on perjury charges in exchange for testimony in Smith’s case.

“It is telling that the Non-Prosecution Agreement it ultimately offered Trump Employee 4 was not offered before the District Court had agreed to appoint ‘conflict counsel,'” Woodward wrote, using the identifier the Department of Justice has assigned Taveras.

Woodward represents Nauta and other witnesses in the special counsel probe.

Tavares in July flipped on Trump by telling prosecutors that the former president directed others to ask him to delete security footage.

A filing by Smith on Aug. 22 suggested “Trump Employee 4” repeatedly “denied or claimed not to recall any contacts or conversations about the security footage at Mar-a-Lago.” But after being told he was a target of a perjury investigation by the Washington grand jury, Taveras recanted, parted ways with Woodward, and made himself available to testify on the government’s behalf.

Prosecutors have argued that Woodward could face conflicts of interest, particularly if he has to cross examine Taveras.

Woodward wrote in the filing Wednesday that he “played no role” in Taveras’ cooperation.