Former President Donald Trump
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A grand jury returned an updated indictment related to Trump’s handling of classified records.The superseding indictment adds a third defendant and additional charges.A new defendant may push the trial date “a couple of months,” former federal prosecutor says.
New additions to the Justice Department’s indictment related to Donald Trump’s handling of classified records could move the case’s May 2024 trial date by “a couple of months,” a former federal prosecutor told Insider.
On Thursday, a grand jury returned a superseding indictment in the classified documents case, adding more charges, including two obstruction counts, and a third defendant.
The indictment now includes a Mar-a-Lago maintenance worker, Carlos De Oliveira, along with Trump and his aide, Walt Nauta — both of whom pled not guilty to the charges in June.
Adding De Oliveira, who is accused of working with Trump to delete surveillance footage at the resort, is a “big change,” Ken White, a defense attorney and founding partner of Brown White & Osborn LLP, told Insider.
The addition adds extra steps before the case can go to trial, including summoning the new defendant and getting an attorney for him.
“You would expect it to delay things a couple of months,” White said.
De Oliveira is expected to appear in a Miami federal court on July 31, the DOJ wrote in a press release of the superseding indictment. His attorney, John Irving, did not respond to a request for comment.
Last week, Judge Aileen Cannon set a trial date for May 20, 2024, giving a middle ground between the DOJ’s request to go to trial in December and Trump’s wish to push the trial until after the 2024 election.
In a notice, Jack Smith, the special counsel leading the DOJ’s case, wrote that the additions in the superseding indictment “should not disturb the Court’s scheduling order.”
He argues that the new count against Trump and his aide Walt Nauta should not “expand the scope of the unclassified discovery” and that his office will “promptly produce discovery” related to the obstruction charges and for the new defendant.
Trump’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Though the DOJ special counsel has pressed for urgency in the trial, White, the criminal defense attorney, told Insider that the upcoming primaries or election should not be of concern for the prosecutor.
“I think it’s an appropriate move,” White said of the changes to the indictment. Worrying about the election or if Trump may be emboldened to pardon himself is “not a legitimate line of inquiry for a prosecutor.”
Outside of the new defendant, the indictment’s updates are “largely cosmetic,” White said.
The new charges may have some impact on sentencing, but “it pales in comparison to the rest of the case,” he said. And the detailed allegations of how Trump conspired to withhold documents and obstruct investigations, are all about telling a better story, White said.
“It’s another good thing to convince the jury,” White said.