Third defendant added to Mar-a-Lago classified documents case

An additional defendant has been added to the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, according to The Associated Press.

>> Read more trending news

The defendant was identified on the court docket as Carlos De Oliveira, according to the AP.

De Oliveira, 56, is the second aide to be charged in the classified documents case, according to CNN. He was a maintenance worker at Trump’s home Mar-a-Lago who assisted Walt Nauta with moving boxes of classified documents.

He reportedly helped Nauta move the boxes after the Justice Department first subpoenaed Trump last May, CNN reported.

De Oliveira was charged with lying to the FBI about moving the boxes with the classified documents inside, according to CNN.

De Oliveira reportedly lied to the FBI during an interview in January where he denied seeing boxes that were being moved or helping to move them, the Washington Post reported.

Trump and Nauta were charged last month by the Justice Department’s special counsel Jack Smith, the AP reported. The indictment included 38 counts of conspiring to hide classified documents from government investigators at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Florida.

Trump is also facing additional charges in the classified documents case for allegedly asking a staffer at Mar-a-Lago to delete camera footage, the AP reported. Nauta is facing additional charges, as well.

All three - Trump, Nauta, and De Oliveira - are now charged with altering, destroying, mutilating, or concealing an object, according to the Washington Post. They are also charged with a similar crime of corruptly altering destroying, mutilating, or concealing a document or object.

Trump and Nauta both pleaded not guilty to their previous charges last month, CNN reported.

©2023 Cox Media Group