The second indictment, which includes new charges against Trump and Nauta, is a sign the case is widening and comes as charges loom in a separate investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.
Trump has not yet entered a plea in connection with the latest charges.
Investigators raided Trump’s resort in August 2022 and found more than 300 secret documents in a trove of roughly 11,000 government papers.
According to Thursday’s indictment, De Oliveira, 56, in June 2022 told another worker at the resort where Trump lives that “the boss” wanted security videos of the property in Florida deleted after the Justice Department subpoenaed them, according to Thursday’s indictment.
De Oliveira and Nauta also moved boxes of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago to conceal them from the FBI and Trump’s lawyers, the indictment said.
Prosecutors said De Oliveira lied to the FBI during a voluntary interview by falsely claiming he had no involvement in moving boxes.
“Never saw nothing,” De Oliveira told the agents, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors allege Trump took the documents illegally when he left office in January 2021 and stored them in unsecure locations, including a ballroom, bathroom and shower. He also showed the papers – which included top-secret information about the US nuclear program and military vulnerabilities – to people who were not authorised to see them, according to the initial indictment.
Trump’s lawyers met with US Special Counsel Jack Smith last week about the election interference probe. It is not uncommon for defense attorneys to meet with federal prosecutors before an indictment.
Trump in April became the first sitting or former US president to face criminal charges when a grand jury called by Manhattan’s Democratic district attorney indicted him for allegedly falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to a porn star.
Trump has pleaded not guilty, saying the cases against him are part of a politically motivated “witch hunt”.
Separately, a grand jury in Georgia is investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the election in that state.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to announce whether she will charge anyone in the probe in August.
Media over the weekend reported Trump’s political action committee is expected to report on Monday that it has spent about US$40 million in legal fees in the first half of 2023 to defend Trump and his advisers, among others.
For all the latest world News Click Here
