A judge on Thursday scolded federal prosecutors in the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump as she abruptly postponed a hearing to determine if the lawyer for a co-defendant had a conflict of interest.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon accused prosecutors of “wasting the court's time” by raising new arguments that they had not made in earlier court filings. She said she would set a hearing for a later date for Walt Nauta, a Trump valet charged with conspiring with Trump to conceal classified documents from investigators.
Special counsel Jack Smith’s team had asked for hearings to ensure that Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira were aware of potential conflicts because their lawyers previously represented other key figures in the case. Both men were charged alongside Trump with obstructing government efforts to recover classified documents hoarded at Mar-a-Lago, the former president's Florida estate.
Prosecutors have said in court filings that the multiple representations could create a conflict by causing a lawyer to betray the confidences of a current or former client, or “pull punches,” during cross-examination.
De Oliveira said during questioning from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that he understood the concerns arising from his lawyer's former representation of three government witnesses. Nonetheless, he wanted to keep his attorney, John Irving. Cannon ruled that he could.
Irving told the judge that he did not foresee a conflict, saying there was nothing the witnesses — who are now represented by a new lawyer — could reveal that is not already known by the government or that would be problematic for De Oliveira.
De Oliveira is accused of lying to investigators when he claimed — falsely, prosecutors say — he hadn’t even seen boxes moved into Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House. They say he conspired with Trump and Nauta to try to delete surveillance footage from the property to prevent it from being turned over to the grand jury. De Oliveira has pleaded not guilty.
Nauta, Trump's valet, has also pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to hide documents from the FBI and Justice Department.
One of his lawyers has also represented at least seven other witnesses in the probe, prosecutors say, including a Mar-a-Lago information technology worker who the Justice Department says was asked to delete the surveillance video.
That individual retracted "prior false testimony" after switching lawyers, struck a cooperation deal and provided information that incriminated Trump and helped produce a new indictment in July against the former president, Nauta and De Oliveira, prosecutors have said.
Woodward has denied any conflict.
