NEW: Judge Cannon Rejects Motions by Trump Co-Defendants to Get Charges Dismissed in Classified Docs Case
Carlos De Oliveira (L), Trump, Walt Nauta (R)
Judge Aileen Cannon on Thursday denied motions filed by Trump co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira to dismiss the indictments against them.
Carlos De Oliveira and Walt Nauta were indicted in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents case along with President Trump.
Walt Nauta is a former White House employee and Navy veteran who worked valet for Trump and served as a personal staffer at Mar-a-Lago.
According to the federal indictment reviewed by The Gateway Pundit, Nauta was charged along with Trump in counts 32, 33, 43, 35, and 36.
The charges include conspiracy, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation and scheme to conceal.
Walt Nauta was also charged alone in count 38: False statements and misrepresentations.
Jack Smith charged Carlos De Oliveira, a maintenance worker who helped Trump aide Walt Nauta move boxes of documents around at Mar-a-Lago. He was added to the obstruction conspiracy charges filed in the original charges.
Judge Cannon on Thursday rejected Carlos De Oliveira’s argument that he was unaware of the subpoenas issued for the classified documents stored at Mar-a-Lago. De Oliveira argued that he didn’t know that there were classified documents in the boxes.
“The arguments in Defendant De Oliveira’s Motion do not warrant dismissal of the obstruction offenses charged against him. As grounds for dismissal of those counts (Counts 33, 40, and 41), De Oliveira identifies various topics and/or allegations that are not contained in the Superseding Indictment – namely, specific allegations about his knowledge of classified documents or the contents of “the boxes” more generally, or about his knowledge of an “official proceeding” under 18 U.S.C. § 1512. De Oliveira also argues, again in support of dismissal, that the allegations in the Indictment do not show that he was capable of acting with the required “corrupt” criminal intent to support the alleged obstruction offenses. These characterizations are not grounds to dismiss the obstruction counts against De Oliveira,” Cannon wrote in the 8-page ruling reviewed by The Gateway Pundit.
The Judge also rejected Walt Nauta’s motion to dismiss the charges against him on the argument that they are unconstitutionally vague.
“Defendant Nauta also moves to dismiss the charged obstruction counts—Counts 33, 34, 35, 40, and 41 — as unconstitutionally vague as applied to him and for failure to state a claim. Nauta’s principal submission is that the term “corruptly” as used in the charged § 1512 counts, see 18 U.S.C. § 1512(b)(2)(A), (b)(2)(B), (c)(1), is subject to multiple, still-developing, and contested judicial constructions of the term such that it fails to give ordinary people fair notice of the conduct it punishes and invites arbitrary enforcement,” Cannon wrote.
Cannon continued, “This “multiple-meanings vagueness” contention is worthy of serious consideration, but it does not lead this Court to conclude that dismissal of the obstruction counts is warranted.”
President Trump also filed several motions to dismiss the charges against him. Judge Cannon has not ruled on all of Trump’s motions.
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