Miami. An aide to former US President Donald Trump appeared in federal court in Miami on Monday to face allegations that he tried to help the former president hide secret documents he took with him when he left office.
Carlos De Oliveira, the manager of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida, pleaded not guilty as he has yet to obtain a local attorney.
Judge Edwin Torres set his appearance for August 10 and ordered De Oliveira not to discuss the case with other defendants. He was released on $100,000 bail.
De Oliveira’s attorney, John Irving, told reporters after the hearing that he found it “unfortunate” that the Justice Department charged his client and that it was time for prosecutors to “present evidence.”
De Oliveira is accused of trying to delete security camera recordings and lying to investigators. He is charged with four charges, including obstruction of justice.
Prosecutors first charged Trump and his aide Walt Nauta in the case in June, alleging that Trump haphazardly stored hundreds of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home and recruited staff to hide them from investigators.
Trump, the favorite for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has pleaded not guilty to 37 criminal charges. On Friday he said in a radio interview that he had handed over all the security camera footage the government had asked for. Nauta has also pleaded not guilty.
A new indictment against Trump and Nauta, as well as De Oliveira, was unsealed on Thursday, signaling the case is expanding at a time when charges are looming in a separate investigation into Trump’s efforts to undo his defeat in the 2020 elections.
