Former President Donald Trump directly denied that he ordered security tapes at Mar-a-Lago to be deleted, after special counsel Jack Smith attached three new charges to the now 40-count federal indictment related to Trump's handling of classified documents.
Smith dropped the additional charges of obstruction of justice on Thursday night. The former president adamantly denied on Sunday morning that he asked any members of his team to get rid of videos from the tapes at his Florida home."MAR-A-LAGO SECURITY TAPES WERE NOT DELETED. THEY WERE VOLUNTARILY HANDED OVER TO THE THUGS, HEADED UP BY DERANGED JACK SMITH. WE DID NOT EVEN GO TO COURT TO STOP THEM FROM GETTING THESE TAPES. I NEVER TOLD ANYBODY TO DELETE THEM.
Smith's new charges against Trump stem from allegations that Trump aide Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, a Mar-a-Lago maintenance worker, attempted to delete security footage that investigators sought from the resort. De Oliveria allegedly told another employee that"the boss" wanted the server"deleted" on June 27, 2022, less than two months before the FBI raid that recovered hundreds of classified documents in Trump's storage room and other areas of the estate.
Trump said on Friday that his team turned over the tapes to the Justice Department, stating,"I'm not even sure what they're saying."The former president is expected to stand trial for the classified documents case in May 2024. He is also facing a potential looming indictment from Smith's second investigation into Trump's actions during and after the 2020 election, as well as possible criminal charges out of a Georgia special grand jury investigation.
Trump is also facing a state criminal indictment in New York for hush-money payments during the 2016 campaign.
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