Trump hearing on classified documents coming Thursday to Fort Pierce. Here's what we know
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FORT PIERCE — Former President Donald Trump and codefendants Waltine "Walt" Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira are scheduled to appear before a magistrate judge here Thursday to enter pleas to new charges added July 27 to an indictment in the classified documents case.
Trump, though, has signaled he will skip the arraignment hearing at 10:30 a.m. at the Alto Lee Adams Sr. United States Courthouse.
“I waive my right to appear in court at my arraignment,” Trump said in a court filing.
In the same paperwork, he also pleaded "not guilty" to a trio of new charges, include two counts of obstruction and one count of unlawful retention of National Defense Information.
Here's what to know ahead of the arraignment hearing in Fort Pierce.
Who will appear in court Thursday?
Nauta is expected to attend the hearing to be arraigned on two new obstruction counts added in a superseding indictment. Like Trump, he may file papers to waive his appearance, but so far that hasn’t happened. He attended a pretrial hearing held July 18 before U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon that discussed how classified materials would be handled during the trial.
Special Counsel Jack Smith’s office filed papers July 27 stating that Trump and Nauta may excuse their appearances on Thursday “subject to the court’s approval.”
However, Trump’s newest co-defendant, Carlos De Oliveira, is expected in Fort Pierce Thursday at 10 a.m., before U.S. Magistrate Judge Shaniek Mills Maynard to enter a plea on four counts revealed in the superseding indictment, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, concealing an object and making a false statement.
De Oliveira, the property manager of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, entered no plea during his first court appearance July 31 in Miami. A judge put off his arraignment to give him time to obtain a local lawyer, after he appeared in court with his Washington, D.C.-based attorney, John Irving.
Court filings do not indicate who he has chosen to represent him during his arraignment.
What are the charges in the classified documents case?
In the original indictment filed in June, prosecutors say the former president mishandled dozens of classified documents he took from the White House and schemed with members of his staff to hide them from investigators.
Trump, who denies any wrongdoing, now faces 40 counts related to mishandling classified documents:
Thirty-one counts of willful retention of national defense information under the Espionage Act
Two counts of obstruction
One count of conspiracy to obstruct justice
One count of withholding a document or record
One count of corruptly concealing a document in a federal investigation
One count of concealing a document in a federal investigation
One count of scheming to conceal
One count of making false statements and representations for allegedly causing his lawyer to certify that all classified documents had been turned over to federal authorities on June 3.
One count of unlawful retention of National Defense Information
Here are the eight charges Nauta is facing:
Two counts of obstruction
One count of conspiracy to obstruct justice
One count of withholding a document or record
One count of corruptly concealing a document in a federal investigation
One count of corruptly concealing a document or record
One count of scheming to conceal
One count of making false statements and representations
What happens at an arraignment?
At an arraignment, the judge identifies the defendant by name and reads the official charges. The accused is asked how they want to plead and are told about their right to be represented by a lawyer. The judge then decides if bail is required for the defendant to be released.
The judge can decide to set no bail. In this scenario, the defendant is immediately released without being placed in jail.
Are phones allowed in the courthouse?
While most criminal and civil cases in Florida can be photographed and televised, federal court cases cannot. Cameras, broadcasting equipment, audio recording and laptops are forbidden.
On Monday, more than two dozen media organizations, recognized as the Press Coalition, filed papers requesting permission to bring cell phones into the courthouse to report the arraignment as it happens.
"The Press Coalition is not, at this time, asking for permission to electronically record or broadcast video or audio from the courtroom," media attorneys wrote Aug. 7.
Coalition members include: ABC, AP, CNN, NBC, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and Politico.
Melissa E. Holsman and USA Today contributed to this report.
Gianna Montesano is TCPalm’s trending reporter. You can contact her at gianna.montesano@tcpalm.com, 772-409-1429, or follow her on Twitter @gonthescene.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Trump Mar-a-Lago documents hearing in Florida: Details & will he attend
