Recently unsealed court filings have revealed new details about the handling of documents at Mar-a-Lago involving former President Donald Trump and his valet, Walt Nauta. The filings indicate that Nauta randomly chose boxes of documents to return to the National Archives and that Trump directed that dozens more boxes located at the resort would not be returned.
Nauta testified to a grand jury about the boxes he took from Mar-a-Lago's storage room in January 2022, stating that he would randomly select boxes for Trump to review before returning them to the Archives. Trump himself reportedly indicated when the selection process was complete.
Investigators spoke to multiple witnesses and obtained information about the inner workings at Mar-a-Lago and Trump's White House, which were not initially included in the charging documents. The filings suggest that there were additional boxes at Trump's club containing classified records beyond the initial 15 retrieved by the National Archives.
Trump has been charged with criminal mishandling of national security records and obstruction of justice, while Nauta and another co-defendant have been indicted as co-conspirators. All three have pleaded not guilty, and a trial date is pending.
The unredacted court filings also reveal Nauta's refusal to return to the grand jury for further testimony without certain conditions being met. Nauta's attorney declined to comment, and Trump's attorneys did not offer a statement.
The investigation into the mishandling of classified information began after the Archives discovered sensitive government records in the initial 15 boxes retrieved from Mar-a-Lago. Subsequently, more boxes were identified at the resort, leading to the search warrant execution.
The FBI's review of surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago showed Nauta moving over 60 boxes but only returning less than half of them. Nauta's new attorney has challenged the validity of the search warrants and the handling of his grand jury testimony.
Prosecutors have indicated their intent to continue disclosing updated versions of the Mar-a-Lago search documentation as the criminal case progresses.
