A major witness in the Mar-a-Lago documents case flipped his testimony after switching from Trump PAC lawyer
Witness changed statements ‘immediately’ after switching attorneys to public defender
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A key witness in the special counsel’s classified documents case against Donald Trump reversed his testimony and implicated the former president and his associates after switching from a lawyer paid for by a Trump PAC group, according to a filing from the special counsel’s office.
Last month, Yuscil Taveras, the former director of IT at Mar-a-Lago, identified in some court documents as Trump Employee 4, switched from his attorney Stanley Woodward to a public defender.
At the same time, he gave federal officials new statements they said implicated the former president and his employees Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliviera in an alleged scheme to delete security footage relating to the the handling of classifed documents.
"Immediately after receiving new counsel, [Mr Taveras] retracted his prior false testimony and provided information that implicated Nauta, De Oliveira, and Trump in efforts to delete security camera footage,” the Tuesday filing from the special counsel’s office reads.
Prosecutors previously raised concerns in a June letter that Mr Taveras’s previous lawyer, Mr Woodward, would have faced a potential conflict of interest by representing him in addition to Mr Nauta.
“The target letter to Trump Employee 4 crystallized a conflict of interest arising from Mr. Woodward’s concurrent representation of Trump Employee 4 and Nauta,” the Tuesday filing read. “Advising Trump Employee 4 to correct his sworn testimony would result in testimony incriminating Mr. Woodward’s other client, Nauta; but permitting Trump Employee 4’s false testimony to stand uncorrected would leave Trump Employee 4 exposed to criminal charges for perjury.”
The change in statements was a key part of the superceding indictment last month adding new charges against Mr Trump and Mr Nauta, as well as naming a new defendant, Mr de Oliveira, in the case.
Federal prosecutors allege the former president improperly kept classified materials in his private home after leaving office and then worked with employees to obstruct officials investigating the matter.
The Independent has contacted Mr de Oliveira’s attorney for comment. Mr Woodward declined to comment.
Donald Trump has denied wrongdoing in the Mar-a-Lago case, and has called the prosecution “harassment” and “election interference.”
“I’m protected by the Presidential Records Act totally,” he said in an interview in July. “It shouldn’t even be a case. It’s not a criminal case. Where’s Biden with all the documents? He’s got 20 times, 30 times the documents I have, and he has not made it easy for them either.”
Mr Nauta and Mr de Oliveira have both pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments