Trump, aide face additional charges in Florida documents case

In the classified documents case, the US Special Counsel Jack Smith has added new charges against former President Donald Trump, CNN reported.

Trump is facing accusations that he and his aides asked a staffer to delete camera footage at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago resort, in the summer of 2022 in an effort to obstruct the classified documents investigations.

Trump has been charged with three new counts, including one additional count of willful retention of national defence information and two additional obstruction counts.

Smith also filed new charges against Trump aide Walt Nauta and added a new defendant, Mar-a-Lago maintenance employee Carlos De Oliveira, to the case, reported CNN.

In the classified document case, the former president has pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges related to the documents, which were allegedly mishandled when they were taken to the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida after Trump left office.

Walt Nauta, Trump's aide, has also pleaded not guilty to multiple counts related to the mishandling of documents at Mar-a-Lago, including several obstruction and concealment-related charges.

 According to the indictment, Mar-a-Lago maintenance employee De Oliveira allegedly told another employee that "the boss" wanted the server containing Mar-a-Lago security footage deleted, and asked how long it kept footage, ABC, a US-based news portal reported.

"What are we going to do?" he allegedly said.

The exchange occurred after the subpoena for footage had been sent to Trump's attorney, the indictment alleges.

The superseding indictment charges Trump, De Oliveira and Nauta with two new obstruction counts based on allegations that the defendants attempted to delete surveillance video footage at Mar-a-Lago in the summer of 2022.

It also charges De Oliveira with false statements and representations in a voluntary interview with the FBI on January 13, 2023, as per ABC.

De Oliveira has been summoned to appear on July 31, 2023, at the federal courthouse in Miami.