Trump aide Walt Nauta indicted in classified documents case
(CNN) — An aide to former President Donald Trump has been indicted in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the mishandling of classified documents from the Trump White House, two sources familiar with the indictment tell CNN.
Walt Nauta’s indictment is the second in the special counsel’s investigation after Trump was indicted on seven counts on Thursday.
An attorney for Nauta declined to comment. Nauta was with Trump at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club this week.
The specific charges against Nauta have not been revealed.
Trump responded to Nauta’s indictment on his social media Friday, writing, “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!”
Nauta’s involvement in the movement of boxes of classified material at Trump’s Florida resort had been a subject of scrutiny of investigators. Nauta, with the help of a maintenance worker at Mar-a-Lago, moved the boxes before the FBI executed a search warrant on the Palm Beach property last August.
According to court filings last year, the FBI found more than 100 documents marked as classified during the search, which took place weeks after a Trump lawyer signed a statement attesting that the Trump team had complied with a May subpoena seeking the production of all documents with classified markings.
Investigators obtained surveillance footage showing Nauta and the worker moving boxes of classified documents around the resort, CNN previously reported. Nauta had spoken to investigators repeatedly in the probe, at first telling them he hadn’t handled boxes or sensitive documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Once the surveillance footage was turned over, however, Nauta changed his story, CNN previously reported, and, after changing attorneys, the aide stopped talking to investigators altogether last fall.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the indictment.
This story is breaking and will be updated.