Mar-a-Lago worker Carlos de Oliveira appears in court

Image source, Getty Images

The property manager at Donald Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, has appeared in court in Miami as part of the probe into alleged mishandling of classified documents there.

Charges against Carlos de Oliveira were filed last week as prosecutors widened their inquiry into Mr Trump and another aide, Walt Nauta.

Officials allege Mr de Oliveira tried to delete CCTV footage of Mr Trump’s home after a visit by the FBI.

He is set to enter a plea on 10 August.

The timescale was pushed back to allow him time to hire a lawyer in Florida. Mr de Oliveira’s Washington DC-based lawyer described the new charges as “unfortunate”.

Mr de Oliveira was also ordered to surrender his passport and sign an agreement to pay $100,000 (£78,000) if he does not show up for the next hearing.

He was banned from contacting any witnesses in the case.

According to US media, Mr de Oliveira, 56, is a long-time maintenance worker at Mar-a-Lago. He faces charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and lying to federal investigators.

The revised indictment said the justice department requested video footage on 22 June 2022 after FBI agents identified relevant cameras on a visit earlier that month. The indictment alleged Mr Trump and Mr de Oliveira had a 24-minute phone call on 23 June.

The next day, 24 June, a final demand for footage was emailed to Mr Trump’s lawyers and, hours later, Mr Nauta changed his travel plans to head to Mar-a-Lago, the indictment claimed.

The indictment outlined what prosecutors said happened in the following days.

According to the court document, it is alleged Mr Nauta and Mr de Oliveira conspired in an effort to delete the surveillance video.

Prosecutors claimed Mr de Oliveira twice told a Mar-a-Lago IT worker that “the boss” wanted a video server deleted, in a conversation he said must remain private.

The IT worker responded that he did not believe he had the authority to do that, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors also said he lied when he told them he “never saw anything” when he was asked about witnessing boxes of classified materials being moved.

The indictment also described a scene in which Mr de Oliveira “walked through the bushes” into a property adjacent to the Mar-a-Lago resort to meet Mr Nauta.

Later, the new court filing added, Mr Trump phoned Mr de Oliveira and promised to provide him with a lawyer. It is unclear whether prosecutors obtained the security footage they sought.

Mr Nauta and Mr Trump, who both face new allegations, have already pleaded not guilty to previous charges in the classified documents inquiry.

The fresh allegations add to the former president’s growing list of legal problems.

He currently awaits trial on 34 felony counts in a hush-money case in New York, and also faces a defamation case from writer E Jean Carroll.

Georgia prosecutors are still weighing whether or not to press state charges over an alleged effort to overturn the election results there.

Justice department special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the classified documents investigation, is also considering whether to charge Mr Trump for attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.