|
Trump valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De
Oliveira were charged with conspiring with Trump to obstruct an
FBI investigation into the hoarding of classified documents that
the Republican took with him when he left the White House after
his first term.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the case, in July,
saying that the prosecutor who brought it, special counsel Jack
Smith, had been illegally appointed by the Justice Department.
Smith’s team ended its case against Trump after his November
election win, citing longstanding department policy that says
sitting presidents cannot be indicted.
But its appeal of the dismissal of charges against Nauta and De
Olivera remained pending until Wednesday. That's when
prosecutors informed the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals that it had withdrawn the appeal, formally ending the
case.
“The United States of America moves to voluntarily dismiss its
appeal with prejudice,” prosecutors wrote. “The government has
conferred with counsel for Appellees Waltine Nauta and Carlos De
Oliveira, who do not object to the voluntary dismissal.”
The Justice Department had previously committed to not making
public Smith’s report on the classified documents investigation
as long as proceedings remained ongoing against Nauta and De
Oliveira. But with the appeal now dismissed, Democrats on the
Senate Judiciary Committee asked acting Attorney General James
McHenry to make the report available to them, saying they needed
access to evaluate the document as they prepare to take up the
nomination of Kash Patel to be FBI director.
Patel testified before the grand jury in that investigation in
2022 after being granted immunity.
Trump's Justice Department is widely expected to keep the report
permanently under wraps.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
