Judge Unseals Testimony in Case Involving Trump Documents

The Florida judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s classified documents trial has ordered the public release of a co-defendant’s grand-jury testimony.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon instructed Walt Nauta, a former Mar-a-Lago valet driver, to share a transcript of his June 2022 grand jury testimony and submit it by April 24, as reported by Newsweek.

Cannon specified that the transcript should be edited to remove any information that could reveal the identity of witnesses involved in the trial.

In the same ruling, special counsel Jack Smith’s team was directed to file a confidential status report detailing the grand jury materials and proceedings related to the case by April 26.

Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira are facing charges for impeding government efforts to recover classified materials from Trump’s property, according to The Washington Post.

While most media coverage centered on another filing by Cannon that denied Nauta and De Oliveira’s requests to dismiss the charges against them.

Nauta and De Oliveira’s lawyers recently sought to have the charges dropped, a motion opposed by Smith’s team, who brought charges against them and Trump.

Lawyers for the defendants argued that their clients were unaware that the boxes they handled on behalf of Trump contained classified materials, as reported by The New York Times.

Cannon wrote, as reported by The Post, “Any challenges to the Special Counsel’s evidence can be raised at trial, where the Special Counsel will carry the entire burden of proof for all essential elements of the obstruction charges.”

Nauta, a former Trump aide who still works with the ex-president, and De Oliveira, the manager of Mar-a-Lago, have both pleaded not guilty to their respective charges.

Trump, the expected Republican nominee for the upcoming presidential election, has also pleaded not guilty to 40 charges related to allegedly retaining classified documents after his presidency and obstructing authorities from retrieving them.

Although the trial start date has not been confirmed, Cannon is likely to delay it beyond the current tentative date of May 20.

The special counsel is pushing for a July trial start, almost four months before the election, while Trump’s legal team proposed a potential August start date in compliance with a court order, according to Newsweek.

Trump’s lawyers have suggested the trial should not take place until 2025.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.