Taveras, the director of information technology at the Mar-A-Lago resort, was unnamed in the superseding indictment and labeled as “Trump Employee 4” prior to the identification made by anonymous sources cited by
CNN and
NBC Friday.
Taveras was asked in a private audio closet by a fellow employee, Carlos De Oliveira, how to delete security footage that was subpoenaed by federal investigators for their probe into Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Prosecutors allege De Oliveira told Taveras that “the boss” (presumably Trump) wanted the footage deleted—a request Taveras said he would not know how to complete, adding he was unsure he would have the rights to delete security camera footage.
According to the superseding indictment, Taveras told De Oliveira he would have to instead reach out to a different employee, a supervisor of security for Trump’s business organization who remains unnamed in the case against Trump.
Prosecutors claimed De Oliveira insisted “the boss” wanted the server deleted despite Taveras’ suggestion, asking the IT director, “what are we going to do?”
Chief Critic
Trump’s campaign said the new charges against the former president were an attempt by the “Biden Crime Family” and “their Department of Justice” to harass him and his colleagues. “Deranged Jack Smith knows that they have no case and is casting about for any way to salvage their illegal witch hunt and to get someone other than Donald Trump to run against Crooked Joe Biden,” the statement added.
Tangent
Trump may face yet another indictment soon over his role in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to multiple reports. If the indictment materializes, it would mark the former president’s third one this year.
Key Background
Taveras was first identified as “Trump Employee 4” in the superseding indictment, which included
three new felony charges levied against Trump by Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith. Prosecutors allege Trump attempted to have employees delete subpoenaed security camera footage before
investigators searched the former president’s Mar-A-Lago resort last August. Specifically, Trump was hit with two additional obstruction counts and his 32nd charge of willfully retaining national defense information. The superseding indictment published Thursday also brought charges against De Oliveira, a new defendant in the case and the resort’s head of maintenance, who was alleged to have attempted to delete the security camera footage sought by investigators. De Oliveira joined Mar-A-Lago valet Walt Nauta as a fellow indicted defendant. Nauta was charged with
six felony counts over claims he helped Trump hide classified documents. Both he and Trump pleaded not guilty to their initial charges from June.