Prosecutors: Trump asked to have Mar-a-Lago security footage deleted

Additional charges have been filed against former President Donald Trump in his classified documents case, including attempting to alter, destroy, mutilate or conceal evidence.

Trump brought classified documents from the White House to Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Florida, at the conclusion of his presidency. In June, he was charged with 37 federal counts, including illegal retention of national defense information and conspiracy to obstruct justice. His valet, Walt Nauta, was charged with six counts, including conspiracy to obstruct justice and concealing records. Both men pleaded not guilty.

On Thursday, federal prosecutors unsealed charges against a third defendant, Carlos De Oliveira, the head of maintenance at Mar-a-Lago. Surveillance footage captured in June 2022 showed De Oliveira moving boxes into a Mar-a-Lago storage room in the days between a grand jury issuing a subpoena for Trump to return all classified documents and federal prosecutors visiting the property, The New York Times reported. Prosecutors also found that later in the month, after a subpoena was issued to the Trump Organization for surveillance footage shot near the storage room, De Olivera called the Mar-a-Lago information technology worker who oversaw camera footage.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The updated indictment alleges that at the request of Trump, De Oliveira asked the IT employee to "delete security camera footage" at Mar-a-Lago in order to "prevent the footage from being provided to a federal grand jury." De Oliveira received an additional charge of lying to the FBI, after telling agents during a January interview that he did not see the boxes being moved or help move them.