The recent bombshell charging document against former President Donald Trump has generated considerable interest due to its mention of boxes being “flown north” with Trump for the summer, evoking memories of a viral video that gained widespread attention last year.
According to the news that broke on Thursday afternoon, Special Counsel Jack Smith has added three additional charges against Trump in the new superseding indictment. Among the allegations is the claim that Trump and his aides instructed a staff member to delete camera footage from Mar-a-Lago, which likely pertained to the movement of documents on the property.
A particular passage in the charging document caught the attention of observers as it seemed oddly familiar. Paragraph 73 alleges that Carlos De Oliveira, one of the individuals involved, was part of a group that included Waltine Nauta, and they were responsible for loading several boxes belonging to Trump onto an aircraft that flew north for the summer on June 3, 2022. This description bears a striking resemblance to a scene from a viral video that resurfaced in September.
The video in question was from a May 9, 2021, Daily Mail report titled “Trump jets out of Florida to spend the summer at his Bedminster golf course in New Jersey to escape the heat and plan 2024 election after saying Mother’s Day goodbye to Melania and Barron at Mar-a-Lago.” The footage captured Trump boarding a plane while his aides loaded an assortment of visibly heavy file boxes onto the aircraft. While the date of the video doesn’t align with the events described in the superseding indictment, the activity displayed in the video appears similar to what is being described in the document.
Interestingly, the date of the viral video holds significance in relation to the case. On May 6, 2021, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) had reportedly contacted Trump’s advisers to notify them of missing records. Therefore, it is plausible that some of the boxes seen in the video were connected to the NARA’s inquiry and may have been transported to Bedminster, then back to Mar-a-Lago, and subsequently to New Jersey again.
Despite the intriguing similarities, it’s essential to acknowledge that the dates don’t align, making it unlikely that the specific boxes shown in the viral video are the same ones mentioned in the charging document. However, the similarity between the activities depicted in the video and those described in the indictment raises questions about the handling of records during that time.
