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Two images of classified documents were found on a phone owned by Donald Trump's valet, federal prosecutors have claimed in court.
Prosecutors will call a phone expert to show that valet Walt Nauta allegedly shared one of the images in a text message. If true, this could help convince a future jury that Trump did not secure classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and that staff had access to them.
Nauta, who still works for Trump, is accused of helping Trump to hoard classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
The former president is facing 40 federal charges from special counsel Jack Smith over his handling of sensitive materials retrieved from the estate after leaving the White House in January 2021. He is accused of obstructing efforts by federal authorities to return them. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's attorney and Nauta's lawyers via email for comment on Monday.
Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, a Mar-a-Lago maintenance worker, are accused of moving boxes of sensitive materials around Trump's Florida home to prevent federal agents from finding them and conspiring to delete security footage that had been sought under a subpoena.
They have both pleaded not guilty to all federal charges against them, including conspiracy to obstruct justice.
The latest filing states that prosecutors informed Nauta's lawyer months ago about the two photos of classified documents allegedly found on Nauta's phone.
"Since one of the phones contained two unique images with classification markings, the Government provided those images separately to defense counsel via classified discovery in October 2023, along with the related forensic report containing metadata relating to those two images," it states.
Prosecutors are trying to convince Judge Aileen Cannon that Nauta has had months to find an expert witness to refute the government's claim about the classified images on his phone.
They say that Nauta's claim that he wasn't informed of the images is part of a wider scheme by Nauta and Trump to delay the classified documents until after the 2024 presidential election.
In late April, prosecutors released an FBI interview with Nauta in which he allegedly told investigators that Trump promised to pardon him if elected president.
"Nauta has everything he needs to identify an expert, and has had it for several months," they said in the latest filing.
Nauta claims that he cannot be expected to identify or disclose experts because, according to his previous court filing, "the Special Counsel's Office has yet to provide forensic images of the devices for which it has proffered expert testimony."
In their latest filing, prosecutors claim that that allegation is "inaccurate and misleading."
The filing states, "In August 2023, the Government provided Nauta with the unfiltered and unscoped forensic extractions of his two phones, complete with Cellebrite reports."
Cellebrite is a company that specializes in data extraction from computers and mobile phones.
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About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more