The arraignment of Walt Nauta, the longtime employee of former United States President Donald Trump, has been delayed after he failed to secure a lawyer to represent him and as a storm caused his flight to be canceled.
Nauta's arraignment in the case has been rescheduled for July 6 after his current attorney, Washington-based Stan Woodward, requested the specific date. The latter told Judge Edwin Torres that was still looking for a Florida-based attorney to represent his client in the classified documents case.
Walt Nauta Arraignment Delayed
Woodward added that he was hopeful that he could locate local counsel by the new date of the arraignment. Judge Torrest agreed to the delay of Nauta's arraignment and added that "there's good cause" to do so, based on the severe weather at the time.
FlightAware, a flight tracking site, noted that more than 1,000 U.S. flights were canceled on Tuesday morning. Nauta's defense attorney argued that storms caused his flight to be stranded on the tarmac for three hours after he waited for eight hours at Newark airport, as per CBS News.
Furthermore, Woodward said that he was expecting that his client will seek a delay in the first pretrial conference in the case, which is scheduled for July 14 and will be held in Fort Pierce, Florida.
The situation comes as Nauta is facing allegations of working with Trump to conceal boxes that allegedly contained sensitive records that were marked classified at the time that federal investigators issued a subpoena to retrieve the materials.
The indictment, which was filed earlier this month in the Southern District of Florida, claims that Trump and several of his White House aides, which includes Nauta, packed up items from the White House in his last days in office and then moved them to the former president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Classified Documents Case
Nauta is expected to plead not guilty in the case and he has been in New Jersey with his former boss in the last few days. He is facing six counts, including several obstructions and concealment-related charges that stem from his supposed actions, according to CNN.
While Nauta made his initial court appearance alongside Trump earlier this month, he has not yet entered a formal plea due to not having a local attorney at the time the hearing was held. On the other hand, the former president pleaded not guilty to 37 criminal charges for his alleged retention of classified documents and conspiracy to hide said materials from government agents and his own attorneys.
The criminal case stemming from the classified documents has been assigned to play out in full before federal Judge Aileen Cannon. Prosecutors argued that Nauta lied about the incident during an interview with the FBI in May 2022 when he said that he was not aware of the boxes that were moved to Trump's residences.
Nauta is facing up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted of the most serious charge filed against him. It is not yet known when the trial for Nauta and Trump will begin. However, Judge Cannon has set a trial date in August, said the Washington Post.
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