MIAMI — An aide to former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiring with the former president to obstruct the U.S. government’s efforts to retrieve classified documents during a brief hearing in Miami federal court on Thursday.
Walt Nauta, a Navy veteran who served as a Trump aide in the White House and now works for him as his personal valet, uttered only three words during the arraignment. When asked by Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres if he had reviewed the indictment, he replied, “Yes, your honor.”
It was Nauta’s third scheduled hearing for what is typically a simple proceeding. Because he did not have a local attorney with credentials to appear in South Florida federal court, he had been unable to enter a plea with Trump on June 13. He missed a second hearing last week because a flight was canceled due to bad weather and he also had not yet retained a local counsel.
