Judge Eileen Cannon is asking DOJ and Donald Trump co-defendant Walt Nauta to consider the legality of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s grand jury activity in Washington, D.C., which relates to the obstructed portion of the Mar-a-Lago documents. before her in Florida.
in the order of MondayCannon said Naota’s attorneys “should address the legal appropriateness of using an out-of-district grand jury to continue the investigation and/or seek post-indictment hearings on matters relevant to the immediate indictment case in this district” by August 17 The special counsel should respond by 22 August.
The special counsel previously told Cannon that “a grand jury in this district (in Florida) and a grand jury in the District of Columbia continued to investigate more obstructive activity,” which led to the recent set of criminal charges brought before them against Trump, Naota and the third defendant, Mar-a-Lago employee Carlos de Oliveira.
Naota’s attorney was also told to respond to questions raised by the Justice Department about their potential struggles to represent several people in the investigation in addition to Naota. The Justice Department previously notified Cannon of a possible conflict of interest because Nauta’s attorney Stanley Woodward, like others, would likely be witnesses against him and Trump at trial.
Canon’s schedule indicates that a potential conflict issue will not be resolved for at least two weeks.
CNN has confirmed that Woodward’s representation of Trump Company IT employee and witness Yocel Taveras has been transferred to another attorney after a final proceeding before the lead federal judge in Washington. Taveras was represented by the same lawyer as Naota, however Target letter received After the June indictment of Trump and Nota. Then Taveras, represented by a new lawyer, spoke to the investigators.
Woodward represents at least one additional trial witness in the Florida Documents case, as well as several other witnesses in Trump’s circles related to the Jan. 6 investigation, and his work on their behalf was funded by Trump’s Save America PAC.
Trump now faces 40 criminal charges, alleging he illegally retained national defense information and withheld documents in violation of witness tampering laws in the Justice Department’s investigation of the materials. Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty to all charges. De Oliveira is scheduled to go to trial on Thursday.
For more CNN news and releases, create an account at CNN.com
