Carlos De Oliveira was indicted on three criminal charges alongside former President Trump and his longtime aide Walt Nauda in a superseding indictment Thursday, part of the classified document investigation at Trump’s Florida club.
De Oliveira, the Mar-a-Lago Club’s property manager, allegedly assisted Trump and Nauta in attempting to delete security footage that showed the men moving boxes of classified documents around the property to hide them from federal authorities.
He was charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, destroying evidence and lying to the FBI.
De Oliveira, 56, was hired as the Mar-a-Lago manager in January 2022, previously working there as a valet, according to the indictment.
Federal investigators claim De Oliveira helped Nauta move about 30 boxes of classified documents around Mar-a-Lago and at one point told the club’s head of IT that “the boss” wants security camera footage deleted.
In October, after federal investigators searched the club and found additional classified documents, De Oliveira allegedly drained one of the club’s pools, which caused flooding in the server room that contained the security camera footage. This happened not long after Trump told De Oliveira he would get him an attorney, the indictment says.
According to investigators, Nauta attempted to judge De Oliveira’s loyalty before that promise came, with De Oliveira telling him nothing would get in the way of his relationship with Trump.
Trump now faces 40 charges related to the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, with three of those added this week in the superseding indictment. Nauta faces eight charges.
Special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the classified documents probe, is also investigating Trump for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and his actions related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the Capitol.
Smith met with Trump’s defense on Thursday and sent him a target letter earlier this month, raising speculation that he could be indicted again for that separate investigation soon.