MIAMI (CN) — A property manager at Mar-a-Lago newly charged in former President Donald Trump's classified documents case will remain free on a $100,000 surety bond after his first court appearance Monday.
Carlos De Oliveira, 56, did not enter a formal plea during the roughly 10-minute hearing in Miami. Accused of having asked another employee to delete security footage at Mar-a-Lago back in March 2022 — at the time a federal grand jury had just issued a subpoena for the records — De Oliveira is tentatively scheduled to be arraigned in Fort Pierce on Aug. 10.
The Palm Beach Gardens resident was thrust into the political scandal Thursday after federal prosecutors unsealed a superseding indictment in Miami implicating him in what was a monthslong cat-and-mouse game between the Trump camp and federal investigators.
Under the terms of the bond set Monday by Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres, De Oliveira is not required to post money to secure his release.
Law interns watched from the jury box as a sketch artist squinted at the defendant, clad in a blue suit and gray tie, through the glare of a courtroom window overlooking downtown Miami.
De Oliveira told the judge he understood his rights. He confirmed he is a U.S. citizen and agreed to surrender an expired passport. Attorneys discussed the arraignment date before the hearing ended.
Defense attorney John Irving guided De Oliveira out of the courthouse as journalists jostled for photos and video of the maintenance man. Irving said it was “unfortunate” the Department of Justice chose to charge his client as a co-conspirator in the case.
“Now it’s time for them to put their money where their mouth is,” he added.
De Oliveira faces charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, lying to a federal agent and two counts of concealing evidence. He did not enter a plea at his Monday morning court appearance.
The indictment says about 30 boxes of records detailing sensitive national secrets including U.S. military plans and the nuclear program were transferred from the White House to Mar-a-Lago after Trump left office in January 2021.
Trump allegedly kept the boxes in unsecured areas, including a bathroom and a ballroom, while hosting events that caused tens of thousands of members and guests to stream through the resort.
Prosecutors say the former president spoke with others about the national secrets, even as he acknowledged in conversations that he knew the documents remained classified.
Trump was initially indicted in the Miami case alongside his personal aide Walt Nauta. The superseding papers say De Oliveira and Nauta helped their boss hide boxes after a federal grand jury issued a subpoena in March 2022 for all classified materials. Even as dozens of boxes were being flown north to Trump's summer home, according to the indictment, Trump then directed his attorney to certify that all classified materials had been returned.
Federal investigators persisted. A subpoena for security footage at Mar-a-Lago on June 24, 2022, sent the co-conspirators scrambling to hide their plot, the indictment states.
Prosecutors note that, subsequent to a flurry of text messages and phone calls between Trump and his trusted employees, Nauta flew back to Mar-a-Lago and contacted an unidentified IT director at the resort.
De Oliveira told a resort valet on June 25 not to mention Trump’s aide was in town “because Nauta wanted the trip to remain a secret,” according to the indictment. That same day, Nauta and De Oliveira visited a guard booth to look at the monitors that displayed security footage. Prosecutors say they then personally inspected the property’s cameras with a flashlight.
De Oliveira allegedly met with the IT director in private two days later. De Oliveira asked how long security footage was stored before telling the director “the boss” wanted the server deleted.
The director said, according to the indictment, that “he would not know how to do that, and that he did not believe that he would have the rights to do that."
De Oliveira persisted, asking, “What are we going to do?”
De Oliveira and Nauta met later that day at Mar-a-Lago, but the plot appeared to fizzle. Federal investigators say they obtained security footage in July 2022 showing the men’s efforts to hide boxes of classified materials.
On Aug. 8, the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago that turned up more than 100 documents marked “Top Secret,” “Secret” or “Confidential."
In a phone call a few weeks later, accord to the indictment, Nauta told an unidentified employee, “Someone just wants to make sure Carlos is good." The employee assured Nauta that De Oliveira was loyal and would do nothing to hurt his relationship with Trump.
Prosecutors say Trump told De Oliveira that same day he would hire the property manager an attorney.
The latest charges in Miami were filed even as Trump's attorneys met with special counsel Jack Smith to discuss a potential third criminal case — this one in Washington — tied to the former president's efforts to retain power after losing the 2021 election.
This story is developing and will be updated.
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