Trump aide Walt Nauta pleads not guilty in Mar-a-Lago documents case

Donald Trump’s aide Walt Nauta has pleaded not guilty to charges related to hiding secret documents for his boss at Mar-a-Lago, the former president’s residence.

The navy veteran, who was indicted at the same time as Mr Trump, faces six charges, including conspiracy and making false statements.

The former president pleaded not guilty during an arraignment last month.

It’s not clear when Mr Trump’s and Mr Nauta’s trial will begin.

Prosecutors have accused Mr Nauta, 40, of moving boxes containing top-secret government documents at Mar-a-Lago for the former president and then helping to hide them from federal officials who demanded them back.

His arraignment was initially expected to take place at the same time as Mr Trump’s, but it was pushed back because Mr Nauta had yet to find a local Florida lawyer.

He is now being represented by criminal defence attorney Sasha Dadan.

Mr Nauta smiled at reporters but did not say anything when he arrived at court in Miami, Florida for the hearing, according to Reuters.

Stanley Woodward, who previously represented Mr Nauta during other hearings, entered the plea on behalf of his client on Thursday and waived the reading of the indictment, according to US media reports.

Mr Trump is facing 37 counts in the Mar-a-Lago case, including wilful retention of national defence information and obstruction of justice.

In a 49-page indictment unsealed in June, prosecutors allege Mr Trump illegally held on to files with sensitive information and obstructed federal government efforts to retrieve them.

According to the indictment, Mr Trump directed Mr Nauta to move boxes that were a focus of the investigation from a storage room at the Mar-a-Lago resort. Prosecutors said he can be seen on surveillance footage moving the boxes.

Mr Nauta – who was a White House military valet to Mr Trump and later joined him as an assistant at his Florida estate – was allegedly told to conceal the files from Mr Trump’s attorney and the FBI.

Mr Nauta’s arraignment comes a day after a federal judge unsealed parts of an affidavit FBI used to obtain a search warrant for Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

While much of the warrant still remains redacted, newly unsealed portions of the document revealed the trove of evidence federal investigators obtained before carrying out the search warrant last August, including surveillance video appearing to show Mr Nauta moving boxes before investigators came to look for them.

The federal judge said other parts of the search warrant will remain sealed to “comply with grand jury secrecy rules and to protect investigative sources and methods”.

Mr Trump – who is the leading Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election – is the first former president to be indicted on federal and state charges.

He faces a separate case in New York related to a reimbursement he made for a hush-money payment given to a porn star.