Trump property manager pleads not guilty
Carlos de Oliveira, the Mar-a-Lago property manager, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to multiple obstruction-related offenses tied to former President Donald Trump’s alleged unlawful retention of documents after leaving office, including classified material at Trump’s Florida resort.
De Oliveira, 56, was accompanied by his attorney at the arraignment, which lasted about six minutes. During the proceeding, he waived a formal reading of the charges against him.
De Oliveira asked for a trial by jury and attorneys said the discovery process should get underway in the coming weeks.
Trump and Walt Nauta, an aide to the former president, have already been arraigned in the case and pleaded not guilty. The pair was first indicted in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case in June.
De Oliveira was added as a co-defendant in a superseding indictment last month, along with new charges against Trump and Nauta.
Prosecutors accused the three men together tried to delete security footage the Justice Department sought as part of its investigation.
After the security footage was subpoenaed by investigators, de Oliveira allegedly told the director of IT at Mar-a-Lago that “the boss” wanted the server the footage was kept on deleted, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors also accused de Oliveira of lying to FBI agents during a voluntary interview in January about whether he helped Nauta move boxes of classified documents around Mar-a-Lago.
De Oliveira has worked at Mar-a-Lago for more than 20 years, CNN previously reported. He became property manager of the club in January 2022, according to the indictment, and previously served as a valet and maintenance worker.
Several people close to Trump, as well as people who know de Oliveira personally, told CNN that de Oliveira is not in Trump’s inner circle. Eight current and former Trump aides and allies who frequently visited Mar-a-Lago described de Oliveira as a maintenance worker who did odd jobs around the club and who did not frequently interact with club members or Trump’s team.
This story has been updated with additional details.
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