MIAMI.- Waltine Nauta, personal assistant to former President Donald Trump (2017-2021), pleaded not guilty this Thursday in a Miami federal court to the charges he faces for his role in the mishandling of classified documents found at the residence of the former president in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
Nauta appeared Thursday at a hearing before federal magistrate Edwin Torres accompanied by his attorney, Stanley Woodward, who has now been joined by Florida attorney Sasha Dadan, and pleaded not guilty to the six counts he faces in the indictment filed by the United States Government against him and Trump.
The assistant arrived at the courthouse in the morning after a hearing scheduled for last week was postponed because he missed a flight from New Jersey, in addition to not having at that time a lawyer with jurisdiction in Florida through which to enter your plea of not guilty, as required by the laws of this state.
Nauta, who barely managed a smile at the reporters who questioned him upon his arrival at the court, has hired the lawyer Sasha Dadan, whose office is located in the town of Fort Pierce, north of Miami, and where the trial is scheduled to take place. judgment.
The former member of the US Navy faces crimes such as illegally withholding secret documents related to the US Defense, obstruction of justice and making false statements to the FBI, punishable by jail and fines.
Who was Trump’s military assistant during his Presidency (2017-2021) is indicated by the Prosecutor’s Office as one of those who moved boxes with official documents inside the Republican’s mansion in Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach so that the agents The FBI and the former president’s lawyers couldn’t find them.
Nauta had his first official appearance in court on June 13, alongside former President Trump, but that day the hearing for the reading of the charges was set for a new date.
Nauta at that time, as well as at the subsequent hearing, did not have an attorney licensed to practice in Florida.
The former president is charged with 37 counts involving seven crimes, including illegally withholding secret US Defense documents and obstruction of justice, to all of which he has pleaded not guilty.
