Carlos De Oliveira makes initial appearance in Mar-a-Lago documents case
Mar-a-Lago employee Carlos De Oliveira, who faces criminal charges in the case regarding former President Donald Trump's handling of classified documents, made his first appearance in federal court in Florida Monday.
De Oliveira, the property manager and former valet at Trump's Mar-a-Lago golf club, did not enter a plea because he has not yet retained counsel licensed in Florida, and he was released on a $100,000 signature bond, which requires no money be given to the court up front. De Oliveira was read the charges against him — conspiracy to obstruct justice; altering, destroying, mutilating or concealing an object; corruptly altering, destroying, mutilating, or concealing a document, record or other object; and false statements and representations.
He was required by the court to turn in his passport in the next 48 hours and cannot leave Florida without prior authorization. He must also follow the same no-contact order issued to Trump and Walt Nauta, the personal aide to Trump who has been charged as a co-conspirator in the case.
Last week, prosecutors in special counsel Jack Smith's office filed a superseding indictment in the case against Trump and Nauta, adding De Oliveira as a co-defendant. The indictment claims De Oliveira helped move boxes for Trump and asked another employee to delete Mar-a-Lago security camera footage so it couldn't be turned over to a federal grand jury that had issued a subpoena demanding the records.
The superseding indictment also added new counts against Trump, including: altering, destroying, mutilating, or concealing an object; and corruptly altering, destroying, mutilating or concealing a document, record or other object; and an additional count of willful retention of national defense information.
Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty to charges in the case. The judge in the case, Aileen Cannon, has set a May 2024 date for the trial.
Last week, De Oliveira's attorney declined to comment on the charges. When the superseding indictment was filed last week, Steve Cheung, spokesman for the Trump campaign, claimed the new counts are part of an effort to damage Trump as he seeks the Republican presidential nomination and "nothing more than a continued desperate and flailing attempt by the Biden Crime Family and their Department of Justice to harass President Trump and those around him."
De Oliveira's arraignment is tentatively scheduled for 10 a.m. on Aug. 10, in Fort Pierce, Fla.