(CN) — A federal judge ruled Thursday that the indictment for Donald Trump employees Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira was detailed enough for both to stand trial on accusations they conspired with their boss to hide sensitive records at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon rejected arguments in an order filed Thursday from Trump’s co-defendants seeking to dismiss their charges in the classified documents case.
The employees argued at a court hearing last week in Fort Pierce, Florida, that the indictment failed to clearly explain their purported wrongdoing.
Cannon, a Trump appointee, determined in the order special counsel Jack Smith provided the men enough information to understand the charges and prepare a defense.
“Any particular challenges to the special counsel’s evidentiary showing can be made at trial, where the special counsel will bear the entire burden of proof as to all essential elements of the obstruction offenses,” the judge wrote in the ruling.
Nauta, a valet for Trump, is accused of defying a federal subpoena by helping his boss conceal classified documents at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Nauta removed dozens of boxes of materials from a storage room days before Trump’s lawyer searched the resort for records subject to the subpoena, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors say Nauta knew the boxes contained sensitive information and that he texted another employee a photo of documents that had spilled onto the floor. One of the documents had visible classification markings. Nauta had instead argued that he had no idea of the contents of the boxes and that the indictment never establishes if he did.
"Although there is reason to understand the request for additional specificity as to the 'boxes' and their 'contents,' even in light of the lengthy Indictment, the special counsel is not legally obligated to provide more detail," Cannon said in her ruling.
De Oliveira, the property manager at Mar-a-Lago, is accused of conspiring with Trump and Nauta to pressure an IT manager to delete incriminating security footage at the resort. The IT manager refused and has since become a cooperating witness for the government.
De Oliveira had countered the 60-page indictment never claims that he knew classified documents were being kept at Mar-a-Lago. He was further unaware that the resort’s surveillance footage was subject to a federal subpoena, making its destruction a crime.
"While the Indictment does not contain additional details about De Oliveira’s specific knowledge of the grand jury proceeding or the grand jury subpoena," Cannon wrote, "it alleges that he and his co-defendants attempted to delete security camera footage to “conceal the footage from the FBI and grand jury,” and it lists the specific purpose of the alleged conspiracy."
Trump and his employees have pleaded not guilty to charges.
A trial date has not yet been scheduled.
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