Walt Nauta

Walt Nauta
Nauta in the U.S. Navy, 2008
Born
Waltine Torre Nauta Jr.[1]

1982 or 1983 (age 41–42)[2]
Hågat, Guam, U.S.[2]
Occupation(s)Valet and body man
Known forIndictment with Donald Trump on federal charges
Military career
Service / branchUnited States Navy
Years of service2001–21
RankSenior Chief Petty Officer

Waltine Torre Nauta Jr.[1] (born 1982 or 1983[2]) is an American valet and body man to former U.S. president Donald Trump. He is a defendant in a criminal case over violations of the Espionage Act and related offenses. While a petty officer in the U.S. Navy, he was Trump's valet at the White House. After Trump's term ended, Nauta continued to work for him at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club and residence.

In June 2023, Trump and Nauta were indicted by a federal grand jury in a criminal case over violations of the Espionage Act and related offenses. Nauta was charged with six counts of federal crimes and pleaded not guilty.[3] On July 27, two new counts of obstruction were brought against Nauta.[4]

The original six charges against Nauta relate to allegations that he, acting at Trump's direction, moved boxes that included illegally retained classified documents and national defense-related documents to Trump's residence, and then lied about it to federal investigators. He was indicted for conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, corruptly concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and making false statements and representations. The charges are punishable by up to 90 years in prison if he is convicted.

Early life

Nauta was born in Hågat, Guam, and grew up there with five siblings.[5][6] He graduated from Southern High School in nearby Sånta Rita-Sumai.[2][7]

Career

Nauta enlisted in the U.S. Navy in July 2001.[2] He was a cook, with the rating of culinary specialist.[1] Among his Navy postings were stints with a strike fighter squadron in California, and at a submarine base in Georgia.[8] In 2012, he was assigned to the Presidential Food Service, which is run by the U.S. Navy and manages the White House Mess as part of the White House Military Office.[1][9]

During the presidency of Donald Trump, Nauta became a personal valet to the president.[10] He was responsible for responding to the presidential call button, including when the president requested Diet Cokes, which Nauta would bring to Trump on a silver platter.[11][8] Nauta was promoted to senior chief petty officer in September 2020.[10]

When Trump's term of office ended in January 2021, Nauta accompanied him to Mar-a-Lago, where he worked as Trump's butler and body man.[1][12] He frequently traveled with Trump to public appearances and campaign events.[1] By August 2021, Nauta was on the payroll of Trump's political action committee, Save America.[1] Nauta's service in the Navy ended in September 2021.[10] He was also paid by Trump's 2024 presidential campaign beginning in November 2022.[1]

Nauta was accused of sexual harassment and revenge porn by several women in spring 2021, which led to him being reassigned and his security credentials being docked. This was several weeks before he left the Navy and became a personal employee of Trump.[13]

Federal investigation and indictment

Storage room with document boxes at Mar-a-Lago

Nauta was called as a witness in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation into Donald Trump's handling of government documents; the investigation began in 2022.[2] Investigators with the independent special counsel investigation led by Jack Smith came to doubt Nauta's account of his activities, and beginning in fall 2022 considered whether to charge him with crimes.[14][15] Nauta declined to cooperate with prosecutors, and on May 24, 2023, the special counsel formally notified Nauta that he was a target of the investigation.[15][16]

On June 8, 2023, Nauta was co-indicted with Trump by a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, based in Miami. Nauta was indicted on six counts: conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, corruptly concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and making false statements and representations.[17][18][19] At the time of the indictment, Nauta was with Trump at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster.[18]

June 8, 2023, Indictment of Trump and Nauta

According to the indictment, in the waning days of Trump's term in office, both Trump and Nauta packed items from the White House to ship to Mar-a-Lago in Florida.[1] The indictment alleges that, between November 2021 and January 2022, Nauta, acting at Trump's direction, moved boxes that included illegally retained classified documents and national defense-related documents from a storage room at Mar-a-Lago to Trump's residence.[17][18]

The indictment also alleges that, after a federal grand jury issued a subpoena in May 2022 requiring the return of the government documents, Nauta assisted Trump in concealing documents from the grand jury, the FBI, and Trump's own lawyers.[9][20] It alleges that Trump and Nauta misled a lawyer working for Trump (referenced in the indictment as "Attorney 1," and identified as Evan Corcoran) who was working on gathering documents to comply with the subpoena.[20] According to the indictment, between May 23, 2022 (when Trump met with his attorneys) and June 2, 2022 (when Corcoran told Trump he planned to search a storage room in Mar-a-Lago for documents sought by the subpoena), Nauta was seen on surveillance video removing 64 boxes from a storage room and delivering them to Trump's residence, then returning only 30 boxes to the room.[20][21] According to the indictment, Nauta texted another Trump employee that he had found that several of Trump's boxes had fallen onto the floor, spilling their contents, and Nauta sent a photo to the other employee showing a document on the floor with visible classification markings.[22] The indictment states that Nauta lied to FBI investigators in May 2022, by falsely claiming he was not aware of boxes being brought to Trump's residence for Trump's review.[17][23] The charges are punishable by up to 90 years in prison.[24]

On July 27, a superseding indictment[25] was filed with two new counts of obstruction against Nauta, bringing the total counts against Nauta to eight.[4]

Arraignment and pre-trial motions

Document boxes in Mar-a-Lago bathroom

Trump was arraigned on June 13 and pleaded not guilty to all 37 counts.[26] The federal magistrate judge twice postponed Nauta's arraignment so Stanley Woodward—Nauta's Washington, D.C. lawyer, whose fees are paid by Trump's Save America political action committee—could find local counsel admitted to practice in the Southern District of Florida with whom to work, as required by court rules. (Woodward is not a member of the local court bar, and thus is appearing pro hac vice.)[27][28][29][30][31]

On June 13, Trump and Nauta were granted pre-trial release, on their own recognizance.[32] As is common in criminal matters, the co-defendants were instructed that they were prohibited from discussing the case with each other, except through their lawyers. A similar restriction applied to their communications with witnesses. Trump and Nauta remained free to converse directly on topics unrelated to the case.[26] Nauta continued to serve as a personal assistant to Trump.[33]

Nauta ultimately hired Sasha Dadan (a criminal defense lawyer and former public defender whose main office is in Fort Pierce, Florida, where the trial judge would be based) to co-counsel with Woodward. At his arraignment on July 6, Nauta pleaded not guilty.[3][34][35][36] On July 10, Nauta requested an indefinite postponement of a pre-trial hearing in the case scheduled for July 14. That week, Woodward was anticipated to be in another courthouse defending a different man (Federico Guillermo “Freddie” Klein) tied to Trump, who was on trial related to the U.S. Capitol storming; the government opposed the request.[37][38]

Nauta's trial is scheduled to follow that of Trump's, which prosecutors told the judge they would like to begin on December 11.[35][39][40][41] On July 21, 2023, the trial of the two defendants was scheduled by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon for May 20, 2024.[42][43] However, Cannon would later suspend the trial date and order more pre-trial hearings.[44][45]

On May 21, 2024, photos were released showing Nauta moving boxes around Mar-a-Lago in June 2022.[46][47]

See also

  • Michael Cohen, former attorney for Trump; pleaded guilty to tax evasion and campaign-finance violations, and served one year in prison
  • Allen Weisselberg, former CFO of the Trump Organization; pleaded guilty to 15 criminal charges, and served four months in prison
  • Peter Navarro, former Trump Administration official; convicted of contempt of Congress and sentenced to four months in prison

References

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  2. ^ a b c d e f Helderman, Rosalind S.; Ye Hee Lee, Michelle; Dawsey, Josh; Harris, Shane; Parker, Ashley; Barrett, Devlin (March 18, 2023). "The aide who stayed: Walt Nauta, key witness in Trump documents case". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
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