WASHINGTON −Waltine “Walt” Nauta, Donald Trump’s ever-loyal “body man” in the White House and then at Mar-a-Lago for his post-presidency, has been indicted along with the former president in the classified documents case.
The Navy veteran, 40, had risen quietly through the Trump ranks to become one of those closest to him, but had always stayed below the radar while the public spotlight fell on others in Trump’s inner circle.
No longer. As of Friday, when the Justice Department unsealed the 37-count indictment against the two men, Nauta’s future is intertwined with that of his boss. And so is the white-hot glare of the spotlight now trained on Trump. Both men face potentially long prison terms if convicted of what special counsel Jack Smith and his team have accused them of doing.
Here’s a look at what the Justice Department says Nauta allegedly did to help Trump keep classified documents away from the FBI, the Justice Department, the National Archives and even the former president’s own lawyer.
What the indictment says about Nauta
The Justice Department indictment, unsealed Friday, charges Nauta with conspiracy to obstruct justice; withholding a document or record; corruptly concealing a document in a federal investigation; scheme to conceal; and false statements and representations.
Trump was charged with willful retention of national defense information; conspiracy to obstruct justice; withholding a document or record; corruptly concealing a document in a federal investigation; scheme to conceal; and false statements and representations.
Efforts to reach Nauta were unsuccessful. Nauta’s lawyer, Stanley Woodward, declined to comment, in a text to USA TODAY.
Why did the special prosecutor home in on Trump’s valet
The indictment of Nauta in connection with the case is significant because of his close relationship with Trump and his personal role in handling boxes of documents Trump kept after he left the White House.
According to the indictment, Nauta became a focus of the investigation after it became clear he had been moving boxes from one room at Mar-a-Lago to another at Trump’s personal direction. This occurred during the period when prosecutors had ordered Trump to return classified government documents that they suspected he had brought with him to his South Florida estate.
The indictment was handed up Thursday by a federal grand jury. It said that after Trump was served with a subpoena to return all classified documents in the spring of 2022, the former president took several steps to “obstruct the FBI and grand jury investigations and conceal his continued retention of classified documents.”
As part of that effort, Trump directed Nauta “to move boxes of documents to conceal them” from his own attorney, the FBI, and the grand jury hearing evidence in the case, the indictment said.
Also, Nauta spoke to investigators at least once, according to the indictment. Prosecutors allege that he made false statements by claiming he didn’t know where boxes were, or whether they had been moved, when in some cases had moved them himself.
More:Reports: Trump employees moved boxes at Mar-a-Lago day before officials sought documents
Who is Walt Nauta?
Nauta was a member of the U.S. Navy stationed as a valet in the White House during Trump’s presidency. He left that position to join the former president as a personal aide at Mar-a-Lago in August 2021.
The indictment said he was known informally as Trump’s “body man,” or the person frequently at Trump’s side to attend to his needs and requests. It added that Nauta reported to Trump, worked closely with Trump and traveled with him.
Nauta was also one of the White House staffers who packed items, including some of Trump’s boxes, as he prepared to leave office after losing to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, the indictment said.
Trump was personally involved in this process also, the indictment said, and “caused his boxes, containing hundreds of classified documents, to be transported from the White House to The Mar-a-Lago Club.”
In March 2021, Nauta and others began moving some of Trump’s boxes from one room to another at Mar-a-Lago, storing more than two dozen of them in a bathroom.
When interviewed by the FBI more than a year later, in May 2022, Nauta made “false and misleading statements” regarding the location and movement of the boxes, the indictment said.
In one case, the indictment said, investigators asked Nauta if he had any information that could help them understand where particular boxes were kept and how they were kept, including whether they were secured or locked. “Something that makes the intelligence community feel better about these things, you know?” an investigator asked Nauta.
Nauta, the indictment alleges, falsely responded, “I wish, I wish I could tell you. I don’t know. I don’t—I honestly just don’t know.”
Moving boxes at Trump’s direction
The indictment portrays Nauta faithfully executing orders from Trump – and at least one other family member – when it came to moving the boxes of documents. That occurred before federal authorities issued a subpoena last year demanding the return of all classified documents in Trump’s possession and continued well after prosecutors ratcheted up demands for Trump to turn over the material.
In mid-2022, Nauta moved 64 boxes of White House documents in or out of various locations at Mar-a-Lago, including a storage room, according to the indictment. That took place before one of Trump’s lawyers, Evan Corcoran, began going through the boxes to search for classified documents that prosecutors requested, the indictment said.
On June 3, 2022, one of Trump’s other lawyers signed a certification as the former president’s custodian of records and provided it to prosecutors and the FBI. It said that based upon the information provided to her, a “diligent search was conducted” of all of the boxes moved from the White House to Florida and that, “Any and all responsive documents accompany this certification,” the indictment said.
“These statements were false because, among other reasons, Trump had directed Nauta to move boxes before Trump Attorney 1’s June 2 review, so that many boxes were not searched and many documents responsive to the May 11 Subpoena could not be found—and in fact were not found—by Trump Attorney 1,” the indictment said.
That same day, before prosecutors visited Mar-a-Lago to meet with Corcoran to collect the classified documents, Nauta and others loaded several boxes along with other items on aircraft that flew Trump and his family north to his estate and golf course in Bedminster, N.J. for the summer, according to the indictment.
And more boxes might have been moved to Bedminster ahead of the prosecutors’ visit had it not been for a warning from an unidentified female member of Trump’s family. She texted Nauta on May 30, 2022 to say, “Good afternoon Walt, Happy Memorial Day! I saw you put boxes to Potus room. Just FYI and I will tell him as well: Not sure how many he wants to take on Friday on the plane. We will NOT have a room for them. Plane will be full with luggage. Thank you!”
What has Trump said of Nauta?
Trump has long described Nauta as being loyal and helpful, and broke the news first of Nauta’s indictment in a Truth Social posting just before noon on Friday. He said Nauta had been indicted by the “Thugs” at the Justice Department.
“He has done a fantastic job!” Trump said. “They are trying to destroy his life, like the lives of so many others, hoping that he will say bad things about “Trump.”
Trump praised Nauta in his Truth Social post Friday, saying he “served proudly with me in the White House, retired as Senior Chief, and then transitioned into private life as a personal aide.”
Trump also described Nauta as “strong, brave, and a Great Patriot,” while again claiming the FBI and DOJ were “CORRUPT!”
More:Meet Trump’s cast of record keepers, who have taken on significance amid Mar-a-Lago probe
