It has come to light that Waltine “Walt” Nauta, the man charged alongside Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents, pleaded not guilty Thursday to his alleged role in assisting the former president conceal dozens of boxes prosecutors say contained national secrets.
It is noted that Thursday’s hearing was Nauta’s third scheduled appearance in federal court and the first in which he attended with an attorney licensed to practice in Florida. News that Sasha Dadan, a defense attorney based in Fort Pierce, joined Nauta’s legal team broke an hour before the hearing, dispelling speculation that the arraignment might be delayed a third time.
“I’m very glad to see you here,” Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres told Dadan at the onset of the hearing. Torres had set Thursday as Nauta’s “drop-dead deadline” to hire a local lawyer.
Nauta’s weekslong search for counsel had first prevented him from entering a plea during the former president’s arraignment on June 13. Nauta’s canceled flight from New Jersey to Miami two weeks later caused Torres to postpone the second arraignment scheduled for June 27.
Neither Nauta nor Dadan spoke during Thursday’s hearing, deferring instead to attorney Stan Woodward. The former president’s valet remained silent as he exited the courthouse after the hearing, grinning at reporters but answering none of their questions.
It is to be noted that Nauta’s plea follows the release of more details contained in the search warrant for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property almost a year ago. The warrant describes a person, identified as witness 5, moving dozens of boxes in May and June last year from a room where federal prosecutors say Trump kept the boxes. Witness 5 is believed to be Nauta.
The presiding judge in the case, U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon, is currently weighing a motion by federal prosecutors to move the trial date to mid-December.
