While investigating former President Donald J. Trump’s handling of classified material, his isolated world in Mar-a-Lago was filled with intrigue, fear, and conflicting motives as investigators sought testimony and evidence from some of his closest aides, advisers , lawyers. and even members of his secret service.
With Mr. Trump under federal indictment and with people who currently or formerly worked for him viewed as potential prosecution witnesses, the pressure on those around him – both at Mar-a-Lago, Florida and at his summer home in Florida – is mounting. Bedminster, NJ – has only increased.
Mr. Trump is in a position to run a presidential campaign and prepare a defense at the same time. To further complicate matters, he is forbidden from discussing the latter with a number of people who could presumably help him with the former, some of whom are no doubt wondering who is saying what to the government as they go about their business.
In court in Miami on Tuesday, the federal magistrate judge hearing Mr Trump’s indictment ordered the former president not to discuss the case with his co-defendant and personal assistant, Walt Nauta, saying that all communication about this would be through their attorneys.
The judge also made it clear that he did not want Mr. Trump to talk to potential witnesses about the facts in his indictment, prompting prosecutors to agree to provide him and his lawyers with a further list of people he should be careful talking to .
As was the case last year with the House select committee’s investigation into Mr Trump’s attempts to retain power after his election loss, much of the evidence in the documentary investigation comes from people in the inner circle of the Mr. Trump, what the costs and limitations of allegiance to him.
The difficult nature of the situation was made clear during the trial by one of Mr. Trump’s attorneys, Todd Blanche, who argued that the whole case against Mr. Trump was “about what happened at Mar-a-Lago, it’s about about what happened at Bedminster.” Trying to ban the former president from associating with members of his staff, Mr. Blanche continued, was “unworkable.”
To take just one example of the challenges Mr. Blanche described, Mr. Nauta and his lawyer had gone to dinner with Mr. Trump the night before, according to a person who knew of the meeting.
The question of whether Mr. Trump has interfered with witnesses has come up in previous investigations. The investigation, led by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III, examined, among other things, whether Trump’s Twitter posts in which he stated that his former lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, would never offend him constituted obstruction of justice . (Mr. Trump was not charged.)
Then, during a House select committee inquiry into Trump’s attempts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election, former Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the committee’s co-chair, said that the Mr Trump had called directly to a witness. .
During the documentary review, led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, many Mar-a-Lago employees were interviewed about Mr. Trump by Mr. Smith’s team at a time when, like Mr. Nauta, they were being represented by attorneys paid by the Mr. Trump’s Political Action Committee.
Some of the attorneys Mr Trump has hired to defend him in the case have also been questioned by the government and may also appear as witnesses.
The stipulation that Mr. Trump not discuss the case with potential witnesses could be difficult to enforce, as Mr. Trump’s speaking style is often uncontrollable. It could be especially challenging with regard to Mr. Nauta, whose job it is to follow the former president day in and day out, tending to all his petty needs.
Prosecutors led by Mr Smith have agreed to provide a list of potential witnesses to Mr Trump’s team – though it may have been fine-tuned to avoid revealing too much about their investigation. To that end, David Harbach, a senior prosecutor on Mr Smith’s team, said in court that it is not likely to be “an exhaustive list” that unnecessarily burdens Mr Trump and the people who work for him.
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Mr Trump, said of the witnesses that may be called: “The Justice Department has consistently demonstrated a total disregard for the rule of law by President Trump, his team, his lawyers and his supporters. ” He said the prosecutors’ action was a “politically motivated attempt to disrupt the 2024 election.”
The charges filed against the former president last week contained some hints about who they might be.
Chief among the possible witnesses named in the indictment is Molly Michael, Trump’s former aide, who worked for him at the White House and then went on to work at Mar-a-Lago, according to two people known with the case. Ms. Michael is described as “Trump Associate 2” and appears at several key moments captured in the indictment document.
A lawyer for Ms Michael did not respond to a message asking for comment.
Prosecutors described a text she sent another employee about how far away from Mr Trump the boxes should be stored: “Anything that isn’t the fancy cardboard boxes can definitely go to storage,” she wrote in a message. At another time, the indictment says, Ms. Michael took a photo of boxes before Mr. Trump went through at least some in late 2021, when the National Archives and Records Administration pressed for their return.
Mr. Trump has been skeptical of Ms. Michael since she left his job late last summer, according to a person familiar with his mindset. According to the person familiar with the comments, by then she had been approached several times by detectives who had begun their investigation of the material in the spring.
The indictment also references “Trump Representative 1,” who is said in the indictment to have sent a message to Ms. Michael in late 2021, seeking an answer about how many boxes Mr. Trump planned to bring back to the archives. That representative was attorney Alex Cannon, according to two people familiar with the case. Mr. Cannon, who no longer works directly for Mr. Trump, declined to comment.
Mr. Cannon was in contact with records officials and repeatedly urged Mr. Trump to return government documents in his possession, according to multiple people familiar with his conversations with the former president. The indictment narrowly focuses on charges of obstructing the grand jury’s subpoena for the remaining documents, but like others around Mr. Trump, Mr. Cannon could provide a window into that period.
The indictment also lists two attorneys, Trump Attorney 1 and Trump Attorney 2, who told Trump to conduct a search of his home to comply with a grand jury subpoena in May calling for the return of all classified material in his possession. demanded.
Those attorneys are M. Evan Corcoran and Jennifer Little, both of whom were subpoenaed for testimony and files, nearly all in Mr. Corcoran, by the team of Mr. Smith during the investigation. According to the indictment, Mr. Trump told Mr. Corcoran that he wanted to be at Mar-a-Lago when Mr. Corcoran made a search, and that Ms. Little did not need to be there.
Mr. Corcoran, in particular, could prove to be a crucial witness if the case goes to trial, given that he has included extensive audio notes of his dealings with Mr. Trump on both the receipt of the subpoena and the search of boxes in a warehouse. room in Mar-a-Lago undertaken in an effort to comply.
A federal judge allowed prosecutors to break attorney-client privilege and obtain testimony and most of Mr. Corcoran’s notes. The indictment quoted several scathing excerpts from them, showing that Trump is trying to evade the demands in the subpoena.
Mr Corcoran did not respond to a message asking for comment. Ms Little declined to comment.
The indictment also mentions a third attorney — Trump Attorney 3 — who, at Mr. Corcoran’s request, signed an affidavit stating that a “diligent search” had been conducted of “the boxes transferred from the White House to Florida” and that “all responsive documents” was found.
Prosecutors say the affidavit signed by that attorney, Christina Bobb, was false because Mr. Trump had already ordered Mr. Nauta to move several boxes in a way that prevented them from being searched.
Ben Protess reporting contributed.