We were all waiting with bated breath for news about Indictment #3 this week, but it didn't come down.
But what we did get: more obstruction! On video this time!
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| Ann Telnaes |
This week, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith issued a superseding indictment for the federal documents case. Three more counts levied against the orange one (for a total of 40 federal charges!), and a new defendant emerged. Read the superseding indictment here. By definition, this one replaces the previous indictment, and as such contains the same information as the original story which you have already read. This one, however, contains information about the whole destroy-survelliance-video scheme with the new co-conspirator, Carlos De Oliveira. This new stuff starts on about page 27.
Who is Carlos De Oliveira?
Mr. Oliveira, 56, is the third co-defendant in the documents case. He is an immigrant from Portugal, and by all accounts a very low-level employee. He has been employed at Mar-a-Lago for more than a decade, rising up through the ranks to be a property manager of the resort. He worked as a valet before moving to the manager position shortly after the return of his private citizen boss to his private residence in Florida. It appears that he is so low-level that many of T****'s aides had never heard of him. And yet, he is a player in the center of the scheme to destroy video evidence of the unlawful retention of classified documents, leading to the first-ever federal indictment of a United States president.
To summarize:
The story goes like this: T****, wanting to ignore the subpoena for documents and knowing that the authorities were coming to retrieve them, conspired with his buddies Walt and Carlos to 1) move the documents around to obstruct efforts to find them, and 2) find incriminating video evidence (also subpoenaed) and destroy it.
What happened?
As you already knew, T****'s lawyer was preparing to comply with the subpoena and prepared to go to Mar-a-Lago to search for the documents requested by the government. T**** dispatched Nauta to move the boxes. Nauta and (we know now) Carlos De Oliveira moved about 64 boxes hither and yon. They didn't tell the attorney.
Nevertheless, the attorney found 38 documents and prepared them to be returned.
When the FBI arrived on June 3, 2022 to find and collect the documents, they noticed security cameras near the storage room. A few weeks later, on June 24, another subpoena arrived requesting footage from those security cameras.
That same day, Nauta abruptly changed his travel plans, abandoning plans to travel with T**** to Illinois and instead headed back to Mar-a-Lago. He told various stories to various people, trying to keep the reason he was there a secret.
Around the time he was making his travel plans, he contacted De Oliveira and "Employee 4" (reported to be IT employee Yuscil Taveras) in preparation for the scheme. The next evening, when he arrived, Nauta and De Oliveira walked through the hallways with a flashlight looking for the cameras whose evidence they wished to find and destroy.
Side note: they need to watch more Mission: Impossible. It isn't a great look to record the evidence of the crime on video devices while committing the crime of attempting to destroy evidence on those very same devices.
Finally, De Oliveira pulled "Employee 4" aside and asked him how long video was stored and that "the boss" wanted the server deleted.
OK, I'm no federal prosecutor, but this seems like pretty good evidence of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Ya think?
I guess the parties agreed with that sentiment. A couple weeks after the FBI's raid, T**** was assured that De Oliveira "was loyal" and soon promised De Oliveira that he'd provide him an attorney.
Carlos De Oliveira: another very small fish flailing in this huge polluted pond. I feel for the guy getting caught up in this shit, forever in the history books as a lackey and a dupe. But he had a chance to cooperate, so let the games begin.
Was he offered a chance to flip?
Yes. He reportedly met with prosecutors in a "queen for a day" meeting to discuss the evidence and offer him a chance to cooperate. It became evident to the prosecutors that he was not being truthful during the meeting, and so charges were brought. Sigh. There's no accounting for the irrational loyalty that T**** demands and receives. Weird. It makes me think maybe there is something else justifying the loyalty. Like money? Threats?
So what happened to the video footage?
By all accounts it was not deleted and the feds have it in evidence. It undoubtedly documents the original crime of hiding the evidence as well as the crime of trying to find the evidence of hiding the evidence in order to destroy the evidence of hiding evidence. Where's Tom Cruise when you need him?
Want more to read?
Here are stories:
A minor note about impending Indictment #3:
T****'s lawyers met with prosecutors this week about the January 6 matter. Later, he truth-socialed that his lawyers "had a productive meeting with the DOJ this morning, explaining in detail that I did nothing wrong, was advised by many lawyers, and that an Indictment of me would only further destroy our Country." Given that any contact from T**** is contact with the Upside Down, I hold these words with the same seriousness as an episode of Love Island.
His attorneys met with the prosecution days ahead of the documents indictment as well. 😉
Hey! So what's happening with the Stormy Daniels case?
Trial is set for March 25, 2024.
What about Fulton County, Georgia?
Charges there are pending and expected to be filed in the coming weeks. But we've been saying that for a while. Stay tuned, resisters!
