Federal Appeals Court Dismisses Classified Records Case Against Trump Aides
Of course they did.
In a significant but certainly not unexpected legal development, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed the classified documents case against Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, two aides to former President Donald Trump.
The decision comes two weeks after the Justice Department moved to drop the charges, effectively ending Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probe.
Nauta, Trump’s valet, and De Oliveira, the Mar-a-Lago property manager, had been accused of obstructing the FBI’s investigation into classified documents found at Trump’s Florida estate. The case had already faced setbacks, with U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ruling in July 2024 that Smith’s appointment as special counsel was unlawful.
The Justice Department had initially pursued criminal charges, but in January (because Trump was re-elected), it reversed course, filing a motion to dismiss all proceedings against the two aides. This move followed a broader shake-up within the DOJ, including the dismissal of more than a dozen officials who had worked under Smith. Former Acting Attorney General James McHenry justified the firings by stating these officials could not be trusted to “faithfully implement the president’s agenda.” Meanwhile, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove has called for an internal review of FBI agents involved in the prosecution of January 6 cases.
Smith, who had been appointed in November 2022 to investigate Trump’s handling of classified records and potential election interference, has seen both cases he pursued against Trump ultimately dismissed. While Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges, the cases against him were dropped after he was elected president, with Judge Tanya Chutkan granting Smith’s request to dismiss the 2020 election-related charges in Washington, D.C. The collapse of these high-profile prosecutions marks a dramatic shift in the legal landscape surrounding Trump and his associates.
Source: MDGN