Donald Trump’s IT manager, as revealed by the special counsel, now alleges that he and his aides engaged in evidence tampering.
According to a report by the BBC on Wednesday, an individual employed under Donald Trump and previously positioned as a witness in the former US president’s Mar-a-Lago classified documents case has now leveled allegations of evidence tampering against him. This development follows a court filing.
Prosecutors detail that Yuscil Taveras recognized as “Trump Employee 4” in legal documents, and holding the role of IT director, altered his testimony subsequent to changing legal representation. He has now implicated the former president and two of his associates in purported “efforts to delete security camera footage.”
Facing a total of 40 charges within this case, the 77-year-old ex-president, his aide Walt Nauta, and Mar-a-Lago maintenance worker Carlos De Oliveira all entered pleas of not guilty. These charges stem from allegations of mishandling sensitive documents and attempting to obfuscate their actions by erasing security footage from the mansion’s cameras.
As per a court filing submitted on Tuesday, Taveras opted to switch attorneys after learning about an investigation into potential perjury by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the case. During testimony before a grand jury in March of the current year, Taveras reportedly “persistently denied or asserted no recollection of any communications or discussions related to the security footage at Mar-a-Lago.”
The investigation sought access to the CCTV footage in order to trace the movement of boxes containing the classified documents within the resort. The prosecution contends that they were able to establish that De Oliveira instructed Taveras to remove the footage.
Upon the revelation of a conflict of interest involving Taveras’ attorney Stanley Woodward, who was found to be receiving financial support from Trump’s Save America political action organization, Chief Judge James Boasberg, overseeing the federal grand jury, allocated Taveras the assistance of a public defender.
The legal document states: “Guiding ‘Trump Employee 4’ to rectify his sworn testimony would lead to testimony potentially implicating Woodward’s other client, Nauta; however, permitting ‘Trump Employee 4’s’ erroneous testimony to remain uncorrected could subject him to potential criminal charges for perjury.”
On July 5, Taveras conveyed to Chief Judge Boasberg his intention to accept the offer of legal aid, thus relinquishing his prior representation by Woodward.
Following the acquisition of new legal counsel, the court filing asserts: “Promptly after securing alternate representation, ‘Trump Employee 4’ retracted his earlier inaccurate testimony and provided information that indicated the involvement of Nauta, [Carlos] De Oliveira, and Trump in actions to eliminate security camera footage, as detailed in the revised indictment.”
Although Taveras remains unindicted in this case, slated for trial in the coming May, Trump confronts criminal allegations in three separate instances, encompassing his endeavors to overturn the 2021 presidential elections following Joe Biden’s victory.
Furthermore, Trump is set to stand trial in New York in March 2024 on charges of purportedly orchestrating hush money payments to a porn star in an attempt to manipulate campaign finance regulations in advance of the 2016 election.