Trump valet seeks delay in Mar-a-Lago documents case

Former President Trump’s co-defendant in the Mar-a-Lago case, Walt Nauta, is pushing the court to delay a conference to discuss the handling of classified evidence in the case, teeing up a decision for Judge Aileen Cannon that could signal how quickly she plans to handle the case.

A filing from the attorney of Nauta asks Cannon to reschedule the Friday conference, arguing he is due in court on another matter while the Florida-based attorney Nauta hired the day before his twice-scheduled arraignment — Sasha Dadan — is not yet prepared to participate.

“Defense counsel cannot meaningfully opine on, ‘a discovery and motion schedule relating to any classified information,’ before their provisional security clearances, let alone complete clearances, have been approved. Nor is it feasible to expect Mr. Nauta’s local counsel to appear at a pretrial CIPA conference and to agree upon, ‘a discovery and motion schedule relating to any classified information,’ barely a week after she has been retained by Mr. Nauta,” attorney Stanley Woodward wrote in the motion.

The conference is a routine part of the Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) and was granted by Cannon shortly after Trump was arraigned last month in Miami. 

It’s designed to lay out procedures for how to handle classified evidence, though attorneys are not required to have clearances to participate.

Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors argue Woodward’s complaints about his own lack of a clearance are “inconsistent” with CIPA given the law allows that “any party may move for a pretrial conference to consider matters relating to classified information.”

But they also chastise Woodward for apparently failing to undertake the paperwork required to get a clearance. 

“Perhaps more to the point, as of this writing, Mr. Woodward has yet to complete his Form SF-86, which is necessary for him to receive both an interim clearance and final adjudication, despite having been put in contact with the Litigation Security Group on June 12, some three-and-a-half weeks ago,” DOJ writes.

Nauta’s arraignment, completed Thursday, came after it was twice delayed when he failed to retain local counsel and as he struggled to reach Florida due to flight delays.

He retained Dadan the day before his court appearance, and DOJ argues the Florida attorney should be able to represent Nauta in the hearing.

“The Judge’s ruling will give us a sense of whether she’s going to go straight up the middle or lean Trump. No reason to delay this hearing, which is essential to kicking off classified discovery,” Joyce Vance, a former U.S. attorney and law professor, wrote on Twitter.

Cannon initially scheduled an August trial date for Trump, though such matters are often delayed leading up to trial.

Brandon Van Grack, a former top national security lawyer with the Department of Justice, called Nauta’s motion “a delay tactic and the first real test for the Court to keep the case on schedule.” 

“The Court scheduled the CIPA hearing on June 26, but counsel waited two weeks to object to the date.”

Nauta, a valet to Trump, is facing charges on six counts after he was spotted moving boxes in and out of a Mar-a-Lago storage room. 

He is facing obstruction of justice and other charges that could carry as much as 20 years in prison.

–Updated on July 11 at 7:32 a.m.