Donald Trump’s co-defendant in a case accusing the 45th president of hoarding national security information after leaving office led Trump to believe he was on a routine jog when he was actually being interviewed by FBI agents, new court documents show.
“As far as [Trump] knows, I’m out jogging,” Walt Nauta told the feds in a May 26, 2022, interview, the transcript of which was made public in South Florida federal court Thursday.
“So we need to get you sweaty before you go back,” one unnamed agent responded.
Law & Crime first reported on the transcript of the Nauta interview.
The FBI was interviewing Nauta for the case it would bring against the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, Nauta, and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira after Trump kept troves of classified documents at his Palm Beach estate following his departure from the White House in January 2021 — and allegedly tried to cover it up with help from the two staffers.
The agent went on to say to Nauta: “And we also know that we’re putting you in a tight spot, you know, that you’re basically fitting us in on your run and that you’re lying to your boss, and we realize that’s uncomfortable.”
“Well, I’m not lying to him. He’s just, you know —” Nauta responded.
The agent cut in, saying, “Assuming.”
Trump “assumes I’m on my run. Yeah,” Nauta said.
Nauta’s lawyers filed the transcript Thursday, as they were set to appear in a Fort Pierce courtroom Friday to argue that the charges against their client should be dismissed. De Oliveira’s lawyers will also be seeking to have the charges against him thrown out.
Florida federal Judge Aileen Cannon, who will be overseeing Friday’s hearing, last month denied the 45th president’s bid to have special counsel Jack Smith’s case dismissed — an indication that she could issue a similar ruling for Nauta and De Olivera.
Smith’s office has demanded the trial go forward this summer, while Trump’s lawyers have been pushing to postpone the case until after the election. But Cannon said in early March that “a lot of work remains to be done,” hinting that the prosecutor’s timeline may not be realistic.
Trump, 77, faces the first of up to four criminal trials Monday, with jury selection beginning in a New York case accusing him of criminal business fraud.
