Who is Fort Pierce lawyer Sasha Dadan, hired by Walt Nauta in classified documents case?

FORT PIERCE – Waltine "Walt" Nauta, the man charged alongside Donald J. Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents, will be represented Tuesday during a federal court hearing by a Fort Pierce attorney whose legal experience has been exclusively in state court, records show.

Sasha Dadan, 34, a former assistant public defender now in private practice, was hired by Nauta shortly before he appeared in a Miami federal courtroom July 6 to plead not guilty to charges related to his alleged role in assisting the former president conceal dozens of boxes that prosecutors say contained some of the nation's most-guarded military and intelligence secrets.

Trump appeared in Miami federal court on June 13 to plead not guilty to all 37 counts against him. Both were indicted on June 8.

Classified Information Procedures Act hearing

Dadan will be joined Tuesday by Nauta’s Washington, D.C., defense attorney Stanley Woodward Jr. for a hearing scheduled by U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon, in part to discuss how documents containing sensitive information would be handled and presented at trial.

Nauta and Trump are not expected to attend the hearing at the Alto Lee Adams Sr. U.S. Courthouse, in Fort Pierce.

Cannon set a trial date of Aug. 14, but federal prosecutors asked for the proceeding to be moved to Dec. 11. Trump's lawyers though, want Cannon to hold off on setting a date for his criminal trial, and argued in court papers that not doing so could unfairly impact the outcome of the presidential election and result in a "miscarriage of justice."

The matter may be raised Tuesday in court.

It’s unclear how much Dadan will participate in Tuesday’s hearing. She didn’t respond to a voicemail left Tuesday seeking comment.

Neither she nor Nauta spoke during his arraignment, deferring instead to Woodward, who isn’t licensed to practice law in Florida, but has been approved to represent Nauta along with Dadan, who is licensed in the U.S. Middle District and Southern District of Florida.

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Dadan, however, has spent her nine-year legal career in Indian River and St. Lucie County state courts, handling mostly traffic, misdemeanor and some felony cases, a review of court records show. She also represents clients in family court.

Here’s a look at Dadan’s background, education and political experience

Education: AA Degree Palm Beach State College; BA Degree in Public Communications Minor in Sociology, Florida Atlantic University; JD Degree Florida A&M College of Law. She was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2014.

Background: The daughter of a Cuban mother and Argentine father, Dadan was born in Palm Beach County and grew up in Fort Pierce. She’s fluent in Spanish.

In 2018 Dadan told TCPalm's Editorial Board she and her brother were raised by a single mother after her father left the country. For six years she was married to Port St. Lucie City Commissioner Anthony Bonna until they divorced in 2021, court records show.

Work history: Since 2020, Dadan has owned her own law practice, Dadan Law Firm, and handles primarily criminal and family law matters. She is also licensed to practice in the U.S. Middle District and Southern District of Florida.

She got her legal start in August 2014 working as an assistant public defender in the 19th judicial Circuit, representing about 3,000 clients in cases involving felonies, misdemeanors, DUIs, and juvenile offenses. She left the office in June 2016.

From 2016 to 2018 Dadan worked at Safespace, in Stuart, representing domestic violence victims. She also handled civil cases involving domestic violence injunctions, time-sharing and child support matters. She helped establish the first Injunction for Protection program on the Treasure Coast assisting survivors of domestic violence seeking an injunction in the courtroom.

Political experience:  In 2018, Dadan challenged State Rep. Toby Overdorf, a Palm City environmental consultant, during the Republican primary race for state House District 83, which covers northern Martin County and a southern portion of St. Lucie County.

In August 2018, Overdorf won the GOP primary, beating Dadan by a vote of 9,188 (54%) to 7,822 (46%).

Volunteer and civic engagement:  She is a member of the Florida Association Women Lawyers of Martin County; St. Lucie County Association of Defense Lawyers, Martin County Bar Association, and former Chair of the Lady Lawyers Luncheon in Martin County.

Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of  Uncertain Terms, a true crime podcast. Reach her at  melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com.  If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Fort Pierce lawyer Sasha Dadan has spent legal career in state court