US drops classified documents case against Trump co-defendants

US prosecutors on Wednesday moved to end the criminal case against two associates of US President Donald Trump for allegedly helping to obstruct a probe into Trump’s mishandling of classified documents, a court filing showed.

The pair, Trump’s personal valet Walt Nauta and property manager Carlos De Oliveira, did not object to the prosecutor’s decision, according to the filing.

The move would end the final remaining portion of the two prosecutions of Trump by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who resigned from the US Justice Department earlier this month ahead of Trump’s return to the presidency. It still must be approved by a federal appeal court.

“Carlos should never have been charged in this case in the first place, and I have zero doubt that he would have been acquitted at trial,” John Irving, a lawyer for De Oliveria, said in a statement. “It’s nice to see the Justice Department using better judgment these days.”

A lawyer for Nauta did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Smith dropped both cases accusing Trump of illegally retaining classified documents and attempting to subvert the results of the 2020 election after Trump’s November election win, citing long-standing department policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.

  

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