FORT PIERCE, Fla.—Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to three new charges related to his handling of some of his presidential papers at his Florida home and allegedly obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them.
As expected, Mr. Trump wasn’t present for the Aug. 10 arraignment at the Alto Lee Adams Sr. U.S. Courthouse in Ft. Pierce, Florida. He submitted his plea through counsel.
Contrary to expectations, however, Mr. Trump’s aide, Waltine Nauta, who also faces charges in the case, attended the hearing and also pleaded not guilty. He communicated through his lawyer, Stanley Woodward, that he intends to take advantage of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Carlos De Oliveira, the third defendant added to the case with the new charges, lacks permanent counsel and his arraignment was rescheduled for Aug. 15.
The prosecutors, with the office of special counsel Jack Smith, took no questions from the press and didn’t discuss other matters of the case during the arraignment hearing.
The case was originally brought by Mr. Smith on June 9, charging Mr. Trump with 38 counts of willful retention of national defense information, obstruction, and making false statements.
It alleges that Mr. Trump illegally “caused” boxes with some defense-related information in them to be moved to his home when leaving office and that he later directed Mr. Nauta to move some of the boxes so they couldn’t be searched for documents that the Department of Justice (DOJ) subpoenaed in 2022.
Mr. Smith added three more charges on July 27, alleging that Mr. Trump asked the property manager at his Mar-a-Lago home, Mr. De Oliveira, to have security camera footage deleted after the DOJ subpoenaed some of the footage in June 2022.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly commented publicly that no footage was deleted and denied making any such request.
The presiding district judge, Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, has set that trial for May 2024.
One of his lawyers, Todd Blanche, pointed out that traveling to the SCIF facilities would involve Secret Service security measures that “take significant planning and effort, as well as financial resources,” especially if the public learns about the visit beforehand.
“The public facility and surrounding area may need to be closed to the public for a significant period of time to ensure the safety of everyone, including President Trump,” Mr. Blanche said.
The prosecutors have opposed such an arrangement.
Mr. Trump also faces several charges, brought by Mr. Smith in the District of Columbia, related to his efforts to reverse the results of the 2020 election. Mr. Trump’s team says his efforts were to contest the election results through legal means. Another set of charges, for alleged falsifying of business records, was brought earlier this year by New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, calling them politically motivated interference with his 2024 run for president.
Yet more charges are expected to come from a district attorney in Georgia, also related to Mr. Trump’s efforts to challenge the 2020 election.
