Trump Aide Walt Nauta to Face Arraignment in Classified Docs Case Tuesday

MIAMI — Walt Nauta, the personal valet to former President Donald Trump, will be formally arraigned in a South Florida federal courthouse on Tuesday on charges for his alleged role in the mishandling of classified documents case. 

Nauta will have to enter a plea at the court hearing and is widely expected to plead not guilty before magistrate Judge Edwin Torres. He will appear at the Miami federal courthouse in person for the hearing, a source familiar with the matter told The Messenger. 

The 40-year-old Guam native and Navy veteran faces charges for making false statements, conspiracy to obstruct justice and withholding documents as part of a case brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith in the Southern District of Florida that also includes Trump as a co-defendant. 

Nauta, who worked for Trump as an aide in the White House and then stayed with him after his term ended, was charged in the same indictment as the former president and made an initial court appearance while seated next to Trump earlier this month. 

He did not have an attorney in Florida at the time of that hearing and will be forced to come back to the courthouse Tuesday so he could be arraigned on the charges. 

After his indictment, The Messenger obtained information about his two decades of service in the US Navy, which began in 2001 when he served as a culinary specialist.

Nauta worked in that role at a strike fighter squadron in California, a submarine base in Georgia — and ultimately as a member of the White House presidential food service team. 

He also served as a personal valet at the White House while Trump was in office. 

At the White House, Nauta worked in close proximity to Trump and his tasks included serving the then-president Diet Coke, cleaning the Oval Office and handing Trump his coat when needed, the Washington Post reported. 

Trump announced Nauta had been indicted in a post on his social media platform Truth Social a day after he announced his own indictment. 

“They are trying to destroy his life, like the lives of so many others, hoping that he will say bad things about ‘Trump.’ He is strong, brave, and a Great Patriot. The FBI and DOJ are CORRUPT!” Trump wrote in the post. 

The former president entered a not guilty plea through his attorney at his arraignment in Miami and has steadfastly denied the charges brought by Smith. 

The special counsel was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Trump’s handling of classified documents and an alleged attempt by the former president to overturn the 2020 election results. 

Trump and others in his orbit have not been charged with crimes related to the 2020 election, but at least one Washington, D.C., grand jury is reportedly weighing whether or not to return an indictment. 

The former president was first indicted by Manhattan state prosecutor Alvin Bragg on charges related to hush-money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election. 

Trump pleaded not guilty in the New York case and has since sought for the charges to be moved to federal court in Manhattan.