MIAMI – Donald Trump’s former White House valet pleaded not guilty to federal charges he is facing along with the former president over the alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Waltine “Walt” Nauta was at his arraignment hearing, which lasted a little over five minutes, on Thursday at The James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building in downtown Miami.
During the hearing, Nauta, 40, of Guam, waived the formal reading of the indictment. His attorneys entered his not-guilty plea and asked for a jury trial.
Attorneys Sasha Dadan, a former public defender and member of the St. Lucie County Association of Defense Lawyers, and Stanley Woodward, who has experience with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and is based out of Washington, D.C., were representing Nauta.
Federal investigators reported Nauta, who enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2001 and left the military to continue working for Trump in 2021, was on surveillance video moving boxes of classified documents at Trump’s request in the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach.
After special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment last month, Nauta was with Trump in federal court and at Versailles Restaurant on June 13 in Miami. His arraignment had been rescheduled twice since he did not have a Florida-based attorney and was unable to travel because of the weather.
“Now it allows the proceedings to move forward for everybody who’s involved because he hadn’t been arraigned it was slowing things down for his co-defendant as well as the government,” said Attorney David Weinstein, who is not involved in the case.
Nauta is facing six counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding documents, corruptly concealing documents, a scheme to conceal, and making false statements and representations. If found guilty, Nauta may face three to four years in prison.
Trump, who is campaigning for reelection, pleaded not guilty to 37 criminal counts, including 31 counts under the Espionage Act of “willful retention” of classified records. If convicted, Trump may face 15 to nearly 20 years in prison.
“The government wants a fast trial in this matter,” said Weinstein, a former federal and state prosecutor. “The judge set a trial for August and so far she has not granted any continuances.”
Read the indictment
Watch the 12 p.m. report
Watch the 4 p.m. report
Related stories