Carlos De Oliveira was added as a third defendant in Donald Trump’s complicated classified documents indictment on Thursday. He faces charges such as trying to obstruct justice, concealing records and documents, and making false statements to the FBI.
The case, which concerns the former president’s handling of top secret documents, also includes Waltine Nauta, Trump’s personal valet and “bodyman”.
De Oliveira was a valet, maintenance worker and more recently a property manager at Trump’s resort, Mar-a-Lago, according to the superseding indictment. The 56-year-old lives in Lake Worth, Florida and was said to be a longtime employee of the resort who kept to himself and liked to play golf, according to local news station WPTV. Those who knew him also told the station they were shocked he could have been part of any criminal activity.
The indictment said De Oliveira helped Nauta move 30 boxes of documents, from Trump’s residence to a storage room, and asked the person responsible for surveillance at the resort to delete the footage on behalf of Trump. He was also accused of draining the resort pool to flood the rooms that contained surveillance footage.
When the FBI discovered the documents at Mar-a-Lago in August 2022, Trump allegedly called De Oliveira and said he would get him an attorney.
De Oliveira is set to appear in federal court in Miami on 31 July.
