Carlos De Oliveira, the Mar-a-Lago property manager accused of helping in former President Trump’s attempt to delete footage from his home, pleaded not guilty in a Florida courtroom Tuesday.
The arraignment marked De Oliveira’s third appearance in the case after he twice failed to come to court with a Florida-based attorney.
De Oliveira is facing obstruction of justice charges as well as charges over making false statements to investigators during the Mar-a-Lago probe.
The indictment noted efforts from De Oliveira, 56, to determine how long security footage was stored on the Mar-a-Lago system. It says he later told another employee there that “‘the boss’ wanted the server deleted.”
The filing also points to a 24-minute call between De Oliveira and Trump shortly after the Justice Department warned it would soon be subpoenaing the video camera footage from Mar-a-Lago.
The indictment details De Oliveira’s attempts to apparently conceal the plans, describing him and fellow co-defendant Walt Nauta walking among the bushes around the IT office where the security footage was managed.
At another point, De Oliveira and Nauta “walked with a flashlight through the tunnel where the storage room was located, and observed and pointed out security cameras.”
The charges against De Oliveira were brought in a superseding indictment by prosecutors, one that resulted in additional obstruction of justice charges for Trump relating to the footage, as well as an additional charge over violating the Espionage Act.
