Trump aide Wault Nauta also INDICTED in classified documents scandal trends now
Donald Trump revealed his trusted White House aide Wault Nauta also has been indicted in the classified documents scandal, and claimed prosecutors are trying to 'destroy his life'.
Nauta serves as the former president's aide and golfing partner, and has stayed by his side since he left office while others have left.
The latest sensational development in the federal investigation into Trump came as two of the former president's top attorneys suddenly resigned on Friday morning.
Nauta has been central to the Mar-a-Lago probe since the start. He moved boxes with a maintenance worker before the FBI conducted their search warrant on the Palm Beach residence last August,
When the boxes were moved to a store room, Trump's lawyers contacted the Justice Department to say they were welcome to visit and search the premises.
Donald Trump has said aide Wault Nauta (pictured left) has also been indicted in the classified documents scandal
Nauta serves as the former president's aide and golfing partner, and has stayed by his side since he left office while others have left
Trump revealed the latest shock development in a post on Truth Social on Friday: 'I have just learned that the “Thugs” from the Department of Injustice will be Indicting a wonderful man, Walt Nauta, a member of the U.S. Navy, who served proudly with me in the White House, retired as Senior Chief, and then transitioned into private life as a personal aide.
'He has done a fantastic job! They are trying to destroy his life, like the lives of so many others, hoping that he will say bad things about “Trump.” He is strong, brave, and a Great Patriot. The FBI and DOJ are CORRUPT!'
The specific charges against Nauta have not been revealed.
Nauta was Trump's military valet while Trump was president and went to work for him after his presidency. His duties including bringing Trump his diet coke when the then-president punched the red button on his desk to request the beverage.
Investigators obtained surveillance footage showing Nauta and a Mar-a-Lago worker moving boxes of the classified documents around the resort.
Nauta had spoken to federal officials repeatedly, first telling them he hadn’t handled boxes or sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago. But once the surveillance footage was revealed, he changed his story.
He also changed lawyers and stopped cooperating with the investigation.
It's the second indictment to come out of the federal probe and comes the day after it was revealed Trump faces seven federal charges - including conspiracy, a violation of the Espionage Act, and classified documents retention - related to the documents he took with him after the left the White House.
Just hours before Trump was indicted on Thursday night, a story emerged that Nauta's lawyers had accused the Department of Justice misconduct.
One of Nauta's lawyers Stanley Woodward had applied to be a judge in Washington D.C.
Prosecutors brought that up during a meeting with the aide's legal team in what could be perceived as coercion.
Jim Trusty, Trump's lawyer who resigned on Friday morning, said on CNN last night that bringing up the judgeship was a scheme to make Nauta cooperate with prosecutors.
Trusty suggested it was criminal activity and deserved investigation.
Donald Trump has said aide Wault Nauta has also been indicted in the classified documents scandal
Earlier Friday, Trump attorneys Jim Trusty and John Rowley suddenly resigned from his defense team.
The lawyers announced their move in a statement, soon after Trump issued a post thanking them for their work and saying he would be announcing 'additional lawyers' in the coming days – without saying who they were or why the pair left.
'This morning we tendered our resignations as counsel to President Trump, and we will no longer represent him on either the indicted case or the January 6 investigation,' said Trusty and Rowley, without further explanation for the reasons.
'It has been an honor to have spent the last year defending him, and we know he will be vindicated in his battle against the Biden Administration's partisan weaponization of the American justice system,' they said.
Meanwhile, Trump was caught on a bombshell audio tape admitting he didn't classify secret military intelligence he took with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago and
