Carlos De Oliveira, the Mar-a-Lago property manager and newest co-defendant in the special counsel’s criminal case charging former President Donald Trump and his staff with mishandling classified information, is scheduled to make his initial appearance in a Miami courtroom on Monday.
De Oliveira was indicted by a grand jury Thursday on four charges, including conspiracy to obstruct justice and making false statements to the FBI.
De Oliveira has not yet entered a formal plea. Trump and his aide Walt Nauta, the third co-defendant in the case, have already pleaded not guilty after initially being indicted in June.
As of Monday morning, De Oliveira did not have a lawyer listed who is able to practice in Florida, where the case will be tried. Nauta faced a similar problem when he was first charged, and though he was able to proceed with his initial appearance alongside Trump in June, Nauta was forced to delay his arraignment until he had a Florida lawyer.
If Monday’s hearing proceeds, De Oliveira will likely be informed of his rights as a criminal defendant and the magistrate judge will set a date for him to be formally arraigned. The judge will also likely ask De Oliveira whether he has a lawyer able to practice in Florida, where the case will be tried.
De Oliveira will also be booked, a process which includes taking a picture of the little-known Mar-a-Lago employee.
Prosecutors in June accused the former president of mishandling several classified documents he had taken with him from the White House, furthering alleging that Trump schemed with Nauta, a Navy veteran and Trump’s close aide, to hide the documents from investigators.
The special counsel’s office added to those allegations on Thursday, saying that the three men together tried to delete security footage the Justice Department sought as part of its…
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